Posted on 12/09/2003 8:10:17 PM PST by flutters
Sixth Shooting Tied To Same Weapon
Number Of Serial Shootings Stands At 15
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Authorities on Tuesday linked a sixth shooting to the same weapon that killed a Central Ohio woman last month, NewsChannel 4 reported.
The shooting occurred Nov. 10 at Paydays South, located at 3408 S. High St. On Monday, investigators examined a bullet that was pulled from a van at the used car lot in southern Franklin County. Ballistic evidence linked the bullet to the one that killed Gail Knisley, 62, of Washington Court House. It is the 15th shooting that authorities believe is connected to a serial shooter or shooters.
The owner of Paydays South first noticed damage to the van last month, NewsChannel 4's Beth Dal Ponte reported.
The business' general manager told Dal Ponte that he first saw the bullet inside a van that was parked at his lot between four and five weeks ago. The bullet hit the lower driver's-side door of a Chevrolet Astrovan.
He first called police two weeks ago following Knisley's death. Knisley was passenger in a white Grand Am along Interstate 270 when she was shot Nov. 25.
Following Knisley's death, several calls were phoned in to local authorities, including the one from Paydays' general manager.
Dal Ponte reported that police checked out the bullet hole two weeks ago but did not remove the bullet until Monday morning.
The business is located about 1 mile from Interstate 270 in southern Franklin County, where the majority of the shootings have occurred.
One Report Of Weapon Eliminated
Authorities eliminated one of two reports from the public Tuesday of people with weapons, Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Steve Martin said.
A man driving east on Interstate 270, just east of U.S. Route 23, told Franklin County sheriff's deputies that he heard two gunshots at about 9 a.m. and believed the shots came from a tan-colored vehicle. Police investigated and eliminated it from the case. The incident turned out to be an old truck that backfired, Martin said.
About 45 minutes after that report, a woman driving along U.S. 23, just south of Interstate 270, called 911 after she said she saw a man waving a gun out the tinted window of a tan-colored vehicle. That report is still being investigated, Martin said.
The woman sounded panicked when calling 911. She told a dispatcher that she did not know if the gun was a rifle or handgun.
Taft Comments On Shootings
Gov. Bob Taft on Tuesday called for a better effort to connect pattern assaults earlier, such as the serial shootings currently being investigated along the Interstate 270 outerbelt, NewsChannel 4 reported.
Taft said he has received daily reports on the serial shootings investigation that started with Knisley's death.
Taft said that he wants a system in place in the future that would connect state, county and city information in a central location to see patterns quicker.
"We need to be able to connect that pattern as soon as possible," Taft said.
When asked if he thought the shooter or shooters would be captured, Taft said yes, "without a doubt."
Police have received 1,520 tips about the shootings.
Anyone with information is asked to call the tip line at (614) 462-4646.
IMHO, .223 is a nice varmint caliber (for all sorts of varmints, not just gophers and prairie dogs). Fast, flat trajectory, available in bolt action, semi-auto, and occasionally class 3 firearms (more spendy than a .50) are available. Ammo can be had cheap, but the really nice match grade varmint hunter rounds are a little pricey.
A lot depends on how close/how cool the neighbors are.
I've shot .50's for years and I know how the damage on a sheet metal target looks.
Mike
TV news showed a picture of a bulet hole in a van this morning. Looked like, possible, small caliber rifle or ,IMO more likely, a 9mm or so handgun round. The hole was torn as much as anything and not round the way one would expect from a high velocity bullet. Even most rifle rounds don't seem to put holes in vehicles with tearing unless from quite a distance and going slowly. I doubt a .22 would do it, and the hole didn't look big enough for a large caliber round like a .45.
Watch your buds Woodsman.I was plinking with a good friend as a young teen,12 or 13 and he brought out his Grandfathers "well used" pistol.We had quite a few pistols between the two of us that day and IIRC it was the Woodsman that was worn enough that it went full auto on him.That's a long time back for my memory but it's been in my mind that it was the Woodsman that "took off".
Nothing against the Woodsman,either.I'd like to get ahold of one,they feel "right".:)
We played with it,whichever it was,on and off that day.Sometimes it would catch and function correctly but more often it went hog wild.We made sure to get to the shop on our way in to order parts,that "not knowing" could be bad.:o}
I dont know much about guns. I just thought it was odd that the reporter would say it was a 50 caliber weapon then apologize for the mistake when they returned from commercial break.
You guys are awesome in your analogy.
Here is the report from channel 4 about the incident:
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Authorities said Thursday that they have received nearly 900 tips from the public and reminded people to call them as quickly as possible for information concerning a serial shooter.
Several juveniles, including one with a firearm, were seen at the time of one of 12 shootings connected to the serial shootings in the Interstate 270 area south of Columbus, NewsChannel 4's John Ivanic reported.
A report filed by the Ohio State Highway Patrol following an Aug. 31 shooting along I-71 said that the victims saw a group of juveniles on a bridge with a gun.
A horse trailer was hit, but no one was hurt.
"(The victims) did turn over a bullet to us," Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Steve Martin said. "They turned over a bullet to us. What I told you is the preliminary investigation -- it is not positively linked to the four positive results we have so far."
Martin said the only evidence that links the horse trailer shooting with 11 others on or near the south outerbelt is its location.
I hope they find this idiot(s) soon. With Christmas coming up, I have so many relatives that have to travel the route to get to my parents.
The shootings haven't stopped. Gail Knisley was shot and killed November 25, around 10:00 am...
Nov. 25, 2003 A Pickaway County man's truck was struck at about 2 p.m. while he was driving on I-270 West, north of I-71.
Nov. 25, 2003 A delivery truck was shot sometime between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on I-270, west of I-71.
Nov. 30, 2003 A car was shot on I-270. A woman heard a thud as she drove the freeway and noticed a bullet hole when she got home. She notified police Dec. 2.
Late Nov. 30 or Early Dec. 1, 2003 A homeowner returns from a weekend away and discovers a bullet hole in front of her house, located about a quarter- mile from I-270. The homeowner recovered a bullet from the living room floor.
. I think the reason they closed the road at night last week, was so the news choppers couldn't see them installing all the sensors they can use to tri-angulate.
I don't want to go near the area. Probably gadgets everywhere. :)
Kind of looks like an exit hole but at the same time could be an entry by something like a shotgun slug or muzzle loader and someone's pulled part back out.
A shotgun slug or large cal. muzzle loader would be more likely for a juvenile to access than a .50 cal. cased round and those were the first things that crossed my mind when thinking of a kid with something like a .50 cal..
"But" there was also a report of a lady with a flat tire and a "bullet" found inside when she had it fixed.
I don't "believe" a muzzle loader or shotgun slug would penetrate a car tire spinning at hiway speeds very easily if it was fired from any distance at all.
Harpseal,what do you see here?
I've never used any.Could a sabot fit the bill on these shootings?
Seems as though there'd be "some" kind of law about "withholding evidence" from FRee Republic,doesn't it.This could cause a FReeper to go nuts without enough to go on.HeHe.:O)
A 7.62x39 HP(copper-plated steel over lead) leaves a surprising large. jagged hole in sheet metal. I don't know if you consider 2000 fps "high velocity" or not, but it's certainly an ubiquitous round.
One of the things I love most about FR is that if something's going on, some Freeper can usually look out their window and give you a blow by blow account. :)
One late night a FReeper someplace in Central America posted about an earthquake where he was.
Everyone wanted to know when it happened.
He said he was on the floor reaching up to type because he couldn't stand up.Wheeehehe...
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