BETTER MAP OF AREA Look for Rathmell Rd and Parsons Ave in bottom right part of map.
Aerial Photo of Area
Posted on 11/29/2003 6:30:02 AM PST by Bosco
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Passenger Shot, Killed Along Freeway (7th shooting)
"Possible" sniper in Columbus Ohio ?
SHOOTING DEATH OF VEHICLE OCCUPANTS NO ACCIDENT
My heart goes out to this woman, her friends and family. This is just horrible.
Real nice of the press to give out this much information on Mrs. Williams.
I wouldn't rule it out given the times we live in.
Saw an interview yesterday morning with a man that had a bullet hit his driver's side window.
The shot had to have come across the opposite traffic side or, my theory, a moving vehicle in the opposite lane.
I have family on the NW side of town. We might go there for Christmas and our usual route is right through the 'shooters' area.
Hurry up and catch the SOB.
Here's the latest from the Fox News website. Please keep all of us here in the central Ohio area in your prayers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Investigators have linked 12 shootings that have terrorized drivers and a community along a five-mile stretch of interstate this year, police said Tuesday.
Four of the shootings -- three at vehicles and one at an elementary school last month -- were from the same gun, Franklin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said Tuesday.
Although ballistics tests could not link the rest of the shootings along Interstate 270 (search), investigators said they "are comfortable" saying all 12 are connected, he said. He would not elaborate.
Authorities have received more than 500 tips, but would not speculate about who the shooter might be and would not release the type of weapon.
"Collectively, we think it's not good for us to put that information out," Martin said.
The shootings began in May along Interstate 270, the freeway that circles Columbus. Many were not reported until after Nov. 25, when 62-year-old Gail Knisley (search) was killed by a bullet that pierced the side of a car driven by a friend.
The latest shooting linked to the spree was a Nov. 11 shooting at Hamilton Central Elementary (search) in Obetz, about two miles from the freeway.
Superintendent Bill Wittman said he believes the shooting was not meant to harm anyone because it happened overnight, but nervous parents expressed concern.
Tiffany Ellis, 32, said her son's second-grade classroom faces the front of the school, where the bullet struck.
"It makes me angry to be honest with you, that I have to drive down the road worrying about getting shot," Ellis said Tuesday.
She said she plans to call Wednesday to see what precautions the district is taking, and may avoid her own living room, which also faces the two-lane road.
"That's kind of scary to think someone could shoot through your window like that," Ellis said.
Greg Mellon said his 8-year-old son "ducked down in the car" on the way to his recreation league basketball practice at the school Tuesday night. "Of course he's thinking about it," Mellon said.
A house was shot at Tuesday near the freeway, but Martin said investigators have not linked it to the other shootings.
Local businesses have established a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Criminal behavior experts have varying opinions on who's behind the attacks. Jack Levin, a Northeastern University criminologist, believes two people could be responsible.
"When I see a crime like this it's almost always two friends who probably wouldn't do this separately, but when they're together there's a certain chemistry, a certain insanity," said Levin, director of Northeastern's Brudnick Center on Violence.
"How do you share the joy of killing or causing problems if you're alone? You can't brag about it or someone will turn you in," he said.
But N.G. Berrill, a psychologist who profiles killers at his New York forensic consulting firm, said the shooter is probably a young male who feels frustrated and generally powerless in his life.
"It's almost an infantile rage is the way I would describe it," he said.
Berrill said the shootings were the work of a person who loves the thrill of causing panic, although he may not intend to kill.
The shooter is likely someone from the surrounding community, said Lou Palumbo, a retired police investigator who runs a private security and investigation organization called The Elite Agency Limited.
"He didn't have to travel far. He's got a certain comfort level with that landscape which could be what's allowing him to be drawn back to the same location of the shootings," Palumbo said.
Martin, the chief deputy, said investigators are not relying on a profile and are exploring all possibilities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
We don't get much in the way of news down here about what's happening in Columbus with the sniper, so thanks for any articles that are pinged my way.
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