Evidence Links Monday's Shooting to Spree

Foxnews.com ^ | 10/7/2002 | Foxnews.com, AP

[caa26]

BOWIE, Md. — Police say ballistic evidence they have recovered from a 13-year-old boy shot in front of his school in Bowie, Md., Monday links the shooting to several in the Washington area.

Evidence recovered from the teen has been linked to the other shootings in the Washington area, Prince George's County Police Chief Gerald Wilson said today.

The boy, who sustained a single gunshot wound to the chest, was in critical but stable condition following almost three hours of surgery at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and doctors said they were "satisfied" with how he got through the operation.

The victims in last week's shootings -- six people killed and one wounded -- also were felled by a single shot.

Dr. Martin Eichelberger said the boy had a gunshot wound to the abdomen, which went through his chest, then into his spleen, stomach, pancreas and lung.

He said the boy's spleen was removed along with part of his stomach and pancreas, but he says those are organs a person can "live without."

Eichelberger said the major concerns now for doctors are whether the boy continues to bleed, and whether he has problems breathing. He said the next eight hours are crucial to determine the boy's recovery.

The doctor said the surgery team made a special effort to find a portion of the bullet, which they gave to police.

FNC Monday's shooting happened well before classes were scheduled to begin, so there were not a lot of witnesses, Wilson said. A gunshot was heard, and the boy slumped over and told his aunt, who had brought him to school, that he thought he had been shot, Wilson said.

His aunt took him to a small hospital in this suburb northeast of Washington, and then he was transferred by helicopter to Children's Hospital.

Police cars surrounded the school and officers put up crime scene tape and searched the campus.

Sharon Healy had just sent her 12-year-old son, Brandon, to school on his bicycle when she heard of the shooting shortly after 8 a.m. outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School. She said she ran there and pulled him out of class.

"You think you're safe, but you're only as safe as your next step," Healy said.

Said her son: "I was scared."

Othar Haskins, 13, standing outside the school with his mother, said he was a friend of the wounded boy.

"He's funny, he's always around friends," Othar said. "He helps you out when you need it. He's a good friend." Othar cried and put his head on his mother's shoulder as he spoke.

AP Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose Last Wednesday and Thursday, five people were shot to death by a sniper in a 16-hour span in Montgomery County. A sixth victim was killed Thursday in Washington, D.C. On Friday, a woman was shot and wounded in Virginia.

"All of our victims have been innocent and defenseless, but now we're stepping over the line," Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said. "Shooting a kid -- it's getting to be really, really personal now." At one point, tears streamed down his face.

In an afternoon briefing, Moose said police were investigating yet another shooting in Washington.

But Washington police spokesman Kenny Bryson said the shooting occurred in an apparent robbery and there's "no link whatsoever" to the sniper attacks.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said federal authorities -- the attorney general, Treasury Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- have been "very involved on the ground and have lent support and equipment."

Asked if there was any evidence of terrorism, Fleischer replied: "I've not heard anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that people are trying to determine who the shooter is, or shooters are, and we continue to help local officials in that endeavor."

Montgomery schools had planned a normal schedule with extra security, but after the Prince George's shooting, officials initiated a "code blue" alert, keeping students inside during recess and lunchtime, Moose said. Prince George's schools and some other schools in the region took similar steps.

The five Montgomery County victims were all gunned down in public places: two at gas stations, one outside a grocery, another outside a post office, another as he mowed the grass at an auto dealership, and the sixth, a 72-year-old man, killed on a Washington street corner. Each victim was shot once from a distance. There were no known witnesses.

Tests confirmed that the same weapon was used to kill four victims.

Ballistics evidence also linked the Maryland slayings with the wounding of a 43-year-old woman on Friday. She was shot in the back in a parking lot at a Michaels craft store in Fredericksburg, Va., and was in fair condition Monday at INOVA Fairfax Hospital.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Shooter 2.5]

One of the witnesses at the car wash thought the vacuum bag blew up.

[FreedomPoster]

Until an empty case is found we won't know which cartridge was used.

My understanding is that a .223 case (5.56x45) was found at the site of one of the first round of shootings in Rockville. Now, did that come from the perp's rifle, or was it a red herring?

[seeker41]

What can you tell from these photos taken from where the lady was hit in the head?

[seeker41]

[Shooter 2.5]

I even wrote that on one of the threads but people are still questioning it so I don't know if it's true or not. That fact seems to have gone away from the threads.

[Shooter 2.5]

This looks like the one where the person was sitting on the bench. Since the killer isn't getting the hits like he did earlier, I wonder if he drove up near the person and shot. It looks like one of the earlier head shots.

[spunkets]

The top photo, showing a close up of the broken glass, is upside down. The photo below that shows the bullet hit it at a downward angle, otherwise it's fairly symetrical, meaning the bullet came straight down that row, but from the viewers right abit. The angle isn't that helpful to determine exactly how far back the bullet came from without considering it already hit someone. I'd guess that shot came from at least as far back as the treeline, but in from the veiwers right of the pic. See the street where the white box van would make immediate left on, at the end of that since the left of the hole is more shattered.

[FreedomPoster]

I could probably find it; I've got the threads bookmarked on my desktop upstairs. It's why they're showing AR's as the possible rifle in the press conferences and on the Montgomery County web site.

[Shooter 2.5]

I missed the part about the head shot. It must be getting late for me.

[Yasotay]

I don't know what a vacuum bag blowing up sounds like but I would guess it is loud. I remember the supersonic crack still is what made most of the noise (that is being about 4 - 6 ft below the target, in the pits, at a KD range).

[Shooter 2.5]

Both photos show a larger white area at the top of the hole. Upward angle?

[ET(end tyranny)]

Why aren't they releasing any information about the victim?

Probably because he is a minor.

[spunkets]

The bottom is knocked out more from an ouside look. If I look at the 2nd pic, the one taken from the inside, the inside of the glass looks more fractured. At 2nd look the first pic isn't upside down compared to the 3rd, or if I rotate it 180 it fits the long cracks in the 2nd pic.

[coloradan]

I also think that it is against MD law to use or purchase body armor.

LOL!! I had forgotten about this. Only for the peasants, of course. (The Lords wear body armor all the time.)

[ET(end tyranny)]

As I've said elsewhere, so far the Maryland shootings have happened during rush hour in very dense and busy suburban locales. Knowing both areas (I grew up around the PG/Montgomery area), I cannot fathom how the shooter would be able to casually shoot someone with a rifle and to have no witnesses whatsoever, and no supicious sightings of any kind.

Sort of. The shootings have been located near major highways that would be busy during rush hours. But the shootings themselves have been in areas where there were few witnesses. The guy mowing the lawn... parking lots (a few people maybe but not tons), the boy was dropped off early for school, few people there.

As a side note, I don't know who the spokesperson was for the school today, but she said the shooting was at 8:09 and that he was there about a half hour early, and that school started between 8:00 and 8:30. She didn't give an exact time for the start of the school day. She left that vague, good for her!

[Shooter 2.5]

To tell you the truth I can't tell that the close up picture is even the same hole as in the rest of the pictures.

[spunkets]

The top pic is rightside up. See #112.

[Vicki]

What's curious is that the authorities have seemingly made a conscious decision not to broadcast any sort of physical description of anyone unusual spotted in the areas around these shootings.

Last week I heard a description by one woman describing the man or men as hispanic. Very easily could be middle eastern. I think they are downplaying this and it hasn't been mentioned again.

[spunkets]

Follow the outside cracks on the 1st then look at the opposite side of the hole in the second. The easiest way is to note the side running cracks all head down somewhat and at the top right of the first there's a 2 pronged fork type crack you can make out in the upper left of the hole in the 2nd pic. The shape of the hole in the 1st and 3rd also matches.