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Security tight at D.C.-area schools

Discussie gestart

Ronald Verhoog

Security tight at D.C.-area schools
Shooting of 13-year-old linked to sniper killings
Tuesday, October 8, 2002 Posted: 1:06 PM EDT (1706 GMT)

BOWIE, Maryland (CNN) -- Students were escorted into classrooms Tuesday under heavy guard at schools in metro Washington as police hunted for the sniper who shot a 13-year-old boy in front of a suburban middle school in Maryland -- the eighth random hit since last week.

Many jittery parents walked or drove their children to school as state and local police were on guard for anything suspicious.

Authorities said ballistics tests indicated that Monday's shooting of the boy in Prince George's County is linked to the sniper attacks last week that left six people dead and another wounded.

"The projectile is identical to those that have been recovered from other scenes," said Joe Riehl, a special agent for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The boy, who was shot once in the chest after he got out of a car outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, was in critical but stable condition Tuesday. He was on a ventilator after more than two hours of surgery in which doctors removed his spleen and parts of his stomach and pancreas.

The boy "is continuing to respond quite nicely," Dr. Martin Eichelberger, the boy's surgeon, said Tuesday morning. "We're really encouraged he's made it this far."

Eichelberger said he is "guardedly optimistic" the boy will continue to improve.

"We feel quite fortunate and humbled by the fact that he's still with us today," he said.

Prince George's County police conducted a search early Tuesday at an apartment two miles from the middle school where the boy was shot. But Police Chief Gerald Wilson said the search "has not led us to a perpetrator" and that no suspect is in custody.

Evidence from the scene was recovered and turned over to the ATF. A police spokesman said weapons were being looked at but wouldn't confirm what was removed from the apartment.

Wilson also warned the county's local "homegrown criminal element" not to take advantage of the police focus on the shootings to commit crimes.

Investigators pursue leads; reward raised
In Montgomery County, Maryland -- where the sniper's first five victims were killed last week -- Police Chief Charles Moose said Tuesday that "people's energy is still very high, and I think in some ways as it continues to unfold, a lot of my investigators are almost more committed today than three days ago."

Five people were shot and killed in Montgomery County during a 16-hour period from Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A sixth victim was shot dead Thursday night on a Washington street. A seventh person was wounded Friday in Virginia. (Trail of the sniper)

Each of the victims was shot once with a .223-caliber bullet, and police said the victims appeared to have been picked at random.

Moose said local, state and federal investigators are following up on 1,250 credible leads. There are 15 investigators "at the ready" who will answer phones, he said. He urged callers to try again if they don't get an immediate answer.

Authorities said the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers has risen to $160,000 -- $100,000 from the state, $50,000 from Montgomery County and another $10,000 from a victims' rights foundation.

Police continued searching for a white van seen speeding from the parking lot of a post office Thursday after a shooting there.

Moose said investigators are pursuing geographical and psychological profiles and a "bountiful amount" of information has been gleaned.

Although federal authorities have been helping local investigators, Moose wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to request assistance officially.

In the District of Columbia, police officers are being held over after the end of their shifts to help patrol schools, said Metropolitan Police Chief Charles Ramsey. Officers on patrol duty also will make extra stops at all district schools -- public, private and charter -- and check in with principals.

In response to the sniper shootings, Starbucks said it was pulling outdoor seating at its coffee shops in the Washington area while authorities try to catch the culprit. A spokeswoman said the move affects 143 stores in the District of Columbia and the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
#1 - 08-10-2002, 19:56 uur

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