tiggerlover
Still waiting for "the talk"
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2000
- Messages
- 10,314
The sniper gets another victim, when will this insanity stop!
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (CNN) -- A bus driver was shot to death Tuesday morning in Montgomery County, Maryland, and the sniper task force was investigating whether the killing was connected to the attacks that have left nine dead and three wounded in the Washington area.
Police said the driver, a man "approximately 40 years old," was standing on the top step platform of a commuter bus when he was shot in the chest. The bus apparently was sitting in a staging area where buses begin or end their routes.
The victim was taken to a trauma center in Bethesda, where he died.
The shooting was reported at 5:56 a.m. EDT in the Aspen Hill neighborhood of Silver Spring, an area close to the scenes of several of the previous sniper attacks.
Police in cars and helicopters converged on the shooting scene, which is near a basketball court surrounded by woods. Major roadways in and around the Washington metro area were blocked as police hunted for clues. Bloodhounds were being used to comb the woods near the scene. (Gallery)
The shooting prompted officials to order all Montgomery County schools to operate under Code Blue, said Brian Porter, director of communications for the schools. Under Code Blue, all exterior doors are locked, all entrances and exits are monitored and all staff maintain a higher level of vigilance than usual, said Porter.
The first six sniper shootings took place in Montgomery County. No one was injured in the first, when a window was shot out at a Michaels craft store in Aspen Hill on October 2. Five people were subsequently killed in the county October 2 and 3.
Meanwhile, law enforcement sources said a hand-written note found near the scene of Saturday's sniper shooting in Virginia "hinted at a demand for money" and threatened "more killing."
Sources told CNN the note contained unspecified threats about killing children if certain demands were not met.
CNN initially withheld that information at the request of law enforcement officials, who feared that releasing it could jeopardize the investigation and put the community at risk. However, after several other news organizations reported the information, the officials said they had no objection to CNN reporting it.
The note is undergoing analysis at an FBI lab for DNA, handwriting and other details that might help determine who wrote it. Sources said authorities were working under the assumption that it is from the sniper.
The discovery of the note behind the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland, Virginia, prompted Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose on Sunday to make his first plea to the sniper to contact authorities. (Account of response to note)
Investigators believe the sniper called authorities Monday morning using a voice-disguising device, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
It was that phone call, this source said, that prompted Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose to urge the possible sniper to "call us back."
"The person you called could not hear everything that you said. The audio was unclear, and we want to get it right," Moose said at a news conference. (Full story)
Other developments
The victim of the shooting outside the Ponderosa restaurant, a 37-year-old man from Melbourne, Florida, was in critical but stable condition at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Officials linked the shooting to the other sniper cases after analyzing the bullet that doctors removed from the man.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday he did not foresee the FBI taking over the sniper investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility. (Full story)
Public schools in 10 Richmond-area districts were closed Tuesday, officials announced Monday. They include schools in the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell and Colonial Heights, and in the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland, Dinwiddie and Prince George. Five of those districts also were shut down Monday -- affecting about 150,000 students -- because of parental and community concern following Saturday's shooting in Ashland, north of Richmond.
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (CNN) -- A bus driver was shot to death Tuesday morning in Montgomery County, Maryland, and the sniper task force was investigating whether the killing was connected to the attacks that have left nine dead and three wounded in the Washington area.
Police said the driver, a man "approximately 40 years old," was standing on the top step platform of a commuter bus when he was shot in the chest. The bus apparently was sitting in a staging area where buses begin or end their routes.
The victim was taken to a trauma center in Bethesda, where he died.
The shooting was reported at 5:56 a.m. EDT in the Aspen Hill neighborhood of Silver Spring, an area close to the scenes of several of the previous sniper attacks.
Police in cars and helicopters converged on the shooting scene, which is near a basketball court surrounded by woods. Major roadways in and around the Washington metro area were blocked as police hunted for clues. Bloodhounds were being used to comb the woods near the scene. (Gallery)
The shooting prompted officials to order all Montgomery County schools to operate under Code Blue, said Brian Porter, director of communications for the schools. Under Code Blue, all exterior doors are locked, all entrances and exits are monitored and all staff maintain a higher level of vigilance than usual, said Porter.
The first six sniper shootings took place in Montgomery County. No one was injured in the first, when a window was shot out at a Michaels craft store in Aspen Hill on October 2. Five people were subsequently killed in the county October 2 and 3.
Meanwhile, law enforcement sources said a hand-written note found near the scene of Saturday's sniper shooting in Virginia "hinted at a demand for money" and threatened "more killing."
Sources told CNN the note contained unspecified threats about killing children if certain demands were not met.
CNN initially withheld that information at the request of law enforcement officials, who feared that releasing it could jeopardize the investigation and put the community at risk. However, after several other news organizations reported the information, the officials said they had no objection to CNN reporting it.
The note is undergoing analysis at an FBI lab for DNA, handwriting and other details that might help determine who wrote it. Sources said authorities were working under the assumption that it is from the sniper.
The discovery of the note behind the Ponderosa Steakhouse in Ashland, Virginia, prompted Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose on Sunday to make his first plea to the sniper to contact authorities. (Account of response to note)
Investigators believe the sniper called authorities Monday morning using a voice-disguising device, a source close to the investigation told CNN.
It was that phone call, this source said, that prompted Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose to urge the possible sniper to "call us back."
"The person you called could not hear everything that you said. The audio was unclear, and we want to get it right," Moose said at a news conference. (Full story)
Other developments
The victim of the shooting outside the Ponderosa restaurant, a 37-year-old man from Melbourne, Florida, was in critical but stable condition at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Officials linked the shooting to the other sniper cases after analyzing the bullet that doctors removed from the man.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday he did not foresee the FBI taking over the sniper investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility. (Full story)
Public schools in 10 Richmond-area districts were closed Tuesday, officials announced Monday. They include schools in the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell and Colonial Heights, and in the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico, Goochland, Dinwiddie and Prince George. Five of those districts also were shut down Monday -- affecting about 150,000 students -- because of parental and community concern following Saturday's shooting in Ashland, north of Richmond.
