Posted on 10/07/2002 2:21:22 PM PDT by 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.
This is what bothers me.
Why use the same gun that the shooter knows is linking him to the shootings?
Does he want to be know as "the shooter" because he has a statement to make, or evil pride or does he want to get caught?
You seem to be forgetting one thing......
All the victims are AMERICANS.
I'll be darned: Political correctness keeping panic at bay--but then weak cooperation from the public because they don't know what specifically to look for. I was thinking much the same thing. This whole thing is so odd, precisely for what is NOT being said. The silence is defeaning.
Those live TV interviews with local,not-too-savvy police chiefs are good, though. They occasionally let something slip. Like the police spokesman (chief?) today who said, paraphrase: "And we have had cooperation from different federal agencies up here. I'm not going to say which agencies". Now what was THAT supposed to mean?
Exactly. People quickly forget spree killers like Charles Whitman in the Texas bell tower or Charles Starkweather, (funny how many of these guys are named Charles).
Sounded to me like he's seen one too many movies.
This guy or guys are not in a white box truck. They are doing the deed, then hiding in plain sight as they casually slip away. They are in a phone company truck, or a cable guy truck, or in a family-type minivan, something like that.
My money is on the minivan. What could be less conspicous than that at a mall parking lot or a school? They are a dime a dozen in all of these shooting venues.
And I have said it before and I will say it again: We are f*cked if this is more than one perp acting together.
1. The single 223 found with in the Oregon guy's weapon cache.
2. The Oregon "brothers" (Bilel) were "raised in a large, strict Muslim household in Maryland.
3. The 'brothers' parents now live in Saudi Arabia.
4. The cell was noticed because of target practicing.
Did these snipers get "advance notice" of this cell being taken down??
Is Michael the code word or Mall??
The Buffalo guys bail will be decided tomorrow. Bet they won't get out and they shouldn't.
Sac
Hmm, there is something about that name...
Notice these hits are early enough in AM to break into the regular news report...just like 9:11.
Sac
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