Posted on 10/23/2002 4:57:47 PM PDT by hoosierskypilot
Oct. 23 — Investigators in Tacoma, Wash., searched a location for a possible link to the serial shootings that have terrorized the Washington, D.C., area since Oct. 2.
Authorities were searching a location in Tacoma for evidence connected with the sniper investigation, an FBI source told ABCNEWS. The source said the search was based on information developed back East surrounding a person or persons police are focusing on in the case. Agents were sweeping the backyard of the duplex with metal detectors, but the FBI will not say what they're looking for. The search began after someone phoned in a tip into investigators in Montgomery County, Md., regarding the D.C.-area sniper.
Earlier today, police announced that Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose would be making a statement to the media, but would not take any questions — a mirror of the previous circumstances where the police chief made direct appeals to a person who claimed to be the serial sniper. It is not known what Moose was going to say. However, nearly an hour after the statement was supposed to be read, Montgomery County, Md., police spokeswoman Joyce Utter told reporters that the briefing was canceled, saying that "developments have come up that investigators really needed to focus on." Utter provided no more details.
Waiting for More Communication
The task force investigating the shootings that have left 10 people dead and three wounded since Oct. 2 have been waiting to hear again from the shooter. Last night Moose appealed to the shooter through the media and asked him to call back them back because his phone call could not be clearly heard. The person believed responsible for shootings told police in a note that at least five of the victims died because police hadn't responded to his calls. ABCNEWS has learned that the person who wrote the letter said he had made at least five calls to police that had been "ignored" by operators answering the phones. Moose said there were no problems with the operations of the tip line for people to call with information about the case.
The letter was found at the scene of Saturday's shooting outside a Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland, Va.,
"Five people had to die" because of the calls that police did not respond to, one law enforcement source confirmed to ABCNEWS.
ABCNEWS has learned that the caller tried to identify himself by saying, "This is God," repeating a line left on a tarot card that was found near the Bowie, Md., middle school where a 13-year-old boy was shot on Oct. 7. The calls were written off because the police operators answering them thought they were cranks.
The letter found on Saturday demanded that $10 million be wired to a special account by a certain deadline or there would be more killing.
Police found another letter in the woods near the scene of the fatal shooting of 35-year-old bus driver Conrad Johnson on Tuesday, The Baltimore Sun reported today. That letter repeated the demands made on Saturday, according to the Sun.
Both letters were several pages long and written in broken English, according to law enforcement sources who have seen copies of the letters.
Police now believe that after the shooting on Tuesday at a commuter bus layover stop beside a small park, the killer got away by sneaking through a hole in the fence by a nearby apartment complex, then slipping into the woods. Police spent the day Tuesday searching for more clues.
Pieces of the bullet removed from Tuesday's victim were examined at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab in Rockville, and investigators confirmed today that it matched the ammunition used in earlier killings.
"The shooting in Montgomery County yesterday on Grand Bell Road and Connecticut Avenue is linked to the other shootings in Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Spotsylvania County, Fairfax County, Prince William County and Hanover County, Va.," Chief Moose said today.
Investigators reached out to the immigrant community to come forward with anything they might know.
Threatening Children
On Tuesday, after being attacked at his first news conference of the day with questions about whether police were doing enough to make sure schoolchildren were safe, Moose came out a second time to disclose details from a message received. He said investigators thought it was important to reveal the exact wording of the killer's threat.
"Your children are not safe anywhere, at any time," Moose read.
Moose would not reveal more about the contents of the note, saying it would jeopardize the investigation. He said leaders in the investigation and school officials were previously told about the threat so that they could make informed decisions.
When he met reporters again Tuesday night, Moose offered a direct message to the sniper.
"In the past several days, you have attempted to communicate with us. We have researched the options you stated and found it is not possible electronically to comply in the manner you requested," Moose said.
"However, we remain open and ready to talk to you about the options you have mentioned. It is important that we do this without anyone else getting hurt. Call us at the same number you used before to obtain the 800 number that you have requested.
"If you would feel more comfortable, a private post office box or another secure method can be provided," Moose continued. "You indicated that this is about more than violence. We are waiting to hear from you."
Moose took no questions and offered no explanation for the comments he made.
Schools Reopen
Schools were closed for two straight days in the counties around Ashland because of the note, but are open today with heightened security measures in place. The federal government today announced that $600,000 would be given to schools in the area to increase security.
Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening has not ruled out calling out the National Guard to increase protection around schools, but he is very concerned about the psychological impact of calling out the Guard on school-age children and the message that might send, his press secretary said today.
Public schools in Montgomery County have remained open under code blue, which means children do not go outside and all school doors remain locked. Officials canceled afternoon pre-kindergarten classes and kindergarten classes in the county.
Fewer students seem to be using the school buses. Instead, many parents were bringing their children to school today and escorting them into the building at the Aspen Hill Elementary School, just blocks away from where the commuter bus driver was shot.
Call to Immigrants
Moose today also made a special appeal to people who might have seen something at the scene of the most recent shooting, but were afraid to come forward because of concerns about their immigration status.
He said that the task force was not interested in whether people were in the country legally, and was only concerned with catching the sniper.
Two illegal aliens were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service last week after they were picked up in Richmond, Va., in a white van that was parked at a phone booth that was being staked out, but Moose said he could not comment on what had happened in other jurisdictions.
The INS also released a statement today saying it was not interested in pursuing the immigration status of people who offer information to the sniper investigation.
"It is crucial that local authorities get the help they need in this investigation," INS Commissioner James Ziglar said in a written statement released today shortly after the news conference in Rockville. "I want to personally urge the immigrant community to come forward if they have information that will assist in this investigation, and assure everyone that INS will not seek immigration status information provided to local authorities in this effort."
In other developments, the Marines have called off the annual "sniper meet" that had been scheduled to be held this week at the Marines' Quantico, Va., base.
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