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.
Hey, don't sweat it, Wacky... have you forgotten that President Bush has taught us that "Islam is a Religion of Peace"??? Therefore, mini-Jihads would be frowned upon by Allah (unless they were performed against filthy, disgusting Infidels like you and me and... um... er... oh yeah, President Bush)!!!
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Maybe, but that's muzzle velocity. With a ballistic coeficient of roughly .260 a 7.62/39 round will be travelling about 17-1800 fps and have about 800 ft/lb energy left at a hundred yards (pretty long shooting against a moving target). That's approaching what I would consider low velocity for a rifle round. Still, at 800 ft/lb energy, I would expect to see an exit hole in the light weight sheet metal and the plastic interiors used in automobiles today. Sheet metal usually doesn't cause expansion in a HP (and most of the combloc HP stuff almost never expands anyway unless you manage to get your hands on a true hunting round). I suppose it's possible that the shooter might be firing from a greater distance, but in that case, it would either require a quite skillful shooter (70 mph moving targets from a distance aren't all that easy) or he's missing a lot and just getting lucky someitmes. If he's firing a lot of rounds and just hitting occasionally, I would think that someone would notice the gunfire (of course I'm unfamiliar with the local landscaping, but I'm assuming some degree of development or population within several hundred yards of the highway). I'm still thinking a 9mm handgun round (from either a handgun or carbine) or a smaller caliber low powered rifle round (.22 mag possibly if close, but definitely not a .22 LR., maybe a .30 carbine class of round). Of course, speculation from a single picture of a single bullet hole is not exactly worth a whole lot of anything other than interesting conversation. Certainly nothing to even think about drawing a credible conclusion from.
I have to drive through that area fairly often. Are you from Columbus too?
I like an SKS for rough handling in crud and mud.They make real good kids guns,too.They don't kick much but still throw enough lead for a deer if the range isn't too big a factor because of the low velocity.
A 30-30 Winchester is right about the same thing as a 7.62x39 for power,to my way of thinking but would be a flat or round nosed bullet.A silvertip cartridge or similar could cause what we see in the pictures.
Also,if the sighting of juveniles accounts for anything,a 30-30 Winchester used to be most kids second rifle after a .22 and there are a lot of them around.
I didn't word that very well at all but you get the general idea.Maybe I can square my thoughts out when I'm awake(or trash them altogether).:)
It could be one of the larger bore muzzle loaders (Brown Bess Musket or such) .58 to .76 caliber for the Brown Bess (although the ball was only .71 caliber).
The Brown Bess was notoriously inaccurate, though (they were used in volley for area fire, not often at individual targets. How abut some of the larger bore 'safari rifles'?
Unless someone has home-built a rifle to fire bullets of this size.
I'd hate to see the implications of that for amateur gunsmiths...
This would give the shooter(s?) enough time to pick a vehicle with consistent speed and shoot when the timing was right. If they were really good at what they are doing, they would be able to hit the driver far more often.
IMHO, they are either shooting at vehicles, or aren't very good.
Hunters here harvest whitetail deer regularly at 250 yards with a .30 caliber rifle (30.06 or .308). A mere 100 yards is good for sighting in here, your group should be under 2 inches, and 300 yards works without any scope correction.
When much younger,I hunted coyotes all the time with .357 mag. revolvers,etc.,while my hunting buddy(best long shooter I've "ever" seen)used nicely set up varmint rifles.
At range,my bud had a big advantage but I would get my share with quicker shots on closer targets and before he could get one off.
Much the same can be said for a semi-auto with iron sights being able to acquire a target quickly and get more shots off if a "kill" shot isn't too important,like for this vehicle shooter.
Also,at times,each of us would manage a shot in what should have been the other's target area.
Stay Safe Free Trapper !
I "thought" I read that the juveniles had a "rifle" somewhere but all I can find now is "gun".
I would think LE would at least put out the race of the juveniles that were seen,if for "no other" reason than to narrow the problem,if there is one with juveniles,for parents or other kids that might know something and speak up.
Expanded or not, they rip the bejabbers out of multiple layers of sheet-metal at close range; they may be collapsing. Wolf uses steel jackets...very nasty.
One wonders whether they want the case broken.
Aaarrgghhh! Sorry; I collect SKS's and can't imagine thrashing a good one. I hunted exactly one time with one...too slow to acquire a sight picture for my taste, though my eyes may be more to blame than the rifle.
I like AR-15s but they don't take the conditions that "I'm" often in,very well,at all.
There are some iron replacement sights now made for the SKS that work fine for hunting if you feel you can have "one" in your collection that's not "original". :O)
My first SKS was fished out of a river overseas in the late 60s and looked terrible,even after I rebuilt it.There weren't too many in the U.S. back then and cartridges could be a little hard to find,not like today.
All my kids had SKSs when very young and I think they're the best "kids" rifle,after a .22,you can come up with.If you get one that's been packed in cosmoline for years and a kid has to read about it,then take it down and really clean it up good before use,the little "powder burners" will learn "all" about it before the first shot is made with it. :o)
I've seen adults just clean them enough to get them to function but the thorough cleaning can really pay off.
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