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Despite witnesses, no sniper sketch
Compiled from Times wires ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The police announced on Wednesday that they had no sketch to offer the public in their hunt for the suburban sniper because witnesses who saw him kill his latest victim could not agree on details in the mayhem of the shooting scene. Investigators confirmed that more than one witness saw the slaying Monday, but they would not disclose any details other than that the sniper is male. "There are a couple of people who believe they saw a man shoot," said Capt. Nancy Demme of the Montgomery County Police Department. "Unfortunately, distance and darkness and perhaps adrenaline have made them unable to give us a clear composite that we can disseminate." The captain did not say, however, what partial descriptions or other new evidence investigators might privately be working with in their manhunt. The search by hundreds of police officers went into a third week with the Washington region fearfully anticipating that the sniper is not finished with a shooting rampage in which he has killed nine and wounded two in separate, single-shot attacks. With a single rifle shot to the head, the sniper killed 47-year-old Linda Franklin on Monday night as she loaded packages into her car at a shopping center in Falls Church, Va. Nearby witnesses said they saw the shooting and offered the police details about the sniper, who fled in the same sort of light colored van that the police have been seeking from his earlier attacks. One witness identified the weapon that the sniper shouldered, about 90 feet from Franklin, as an AK-74, a high-powered Russian-made assault rifle, that can fire the type of bullets used in the slayings, police said. The police emphasized that this detail might be off somewhat since slightly different military rifles, like light vans, can appear so similar in the frenzy of a crime scene. Detectives also think even the highly publicized white Chevy van could be misleading; Demme said the suspect could have access to as many as six different vehicles that he uses to confuse potential witnesses and police. Through the day there was a sense that the manhunt was taking a more intensive tack on the basis of fresh, substantial evidence collected but not publicly disclosed after the Monday shooting, including partial license plate data. One report was of a Maryland tag but investigators declined to comment. But with no visible progress toward catching the gunman, authorities looked to the military for help. Army planes with high-tech surveillance equipment were preparing Wednesday to take to the skies around the nation's capital. Flights were expected to begin within days, the Associated Press reported. President Bush authorized deployment of four-engine Army RC-7 Airborne Reconnaissance Low aircraft and the twin-engine U-21 reconnaissance aircraft because the federal government "can and should do everything it can to help local law enforcement," said press secretary Ari Fleischer. The number of planes, their high-tech capabilities and when and where they would fly were not being released to withhold such details from the sniper, officials said. It was unclear whether the planes would be used for 24-hour coverage. But the plan generally calls for military pilots to fly reconnaissance flights accompanied by federal agents, who would relay any collected information to authorities on the ground, AP reported, citing a senior defense official it did not name. The Army's RC-7 aircraft, with a crew of four technicians and two pilots, offers capabilities beyond those of local police forces. It contains a high-resolution, zoom-lens camera that takes pictures for miles in all directions. If crew members onboard receive word of another sniper attack, they can aim the camera toward the area of the incident, and instantaneously transmit images -- video or photographs -- to receivers on the ground. The plane also is crammed with $17-million worth of the latest infrared sensors, synthetic aperture radars, signals-intelligence interceptors and moving-target-indicator displays. Yet the cameras -- and not these other sophisticated devices -- are why the planes were chosen for this mission. "There's a lot of capabilities in this aircraft," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a private military-research firm. "But they're not going to help you find a white van." Some published reports suggested that the infrared sensor, which detects sudden eruptions of heat, might detect the flash of a rifle muzzle. Pike said that was "nonsense." A heat-detecting sensor, especially a mile or so away, could not distinguish a rifle shot from an exhaust pipe's smoke. The Pentagon help will be given in a way meant to comply with the Posse Comitatus Act -- a 19th century law that restricts the military's involvement in domestic law enforcement, said a Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis. That means the military will not be involved in action on the ground, will relay data to law enforcement and not decide on its own what targets to watch, officials said. The move is highly unusual but not unheard of. During the last Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, military helicopters flew federal law enforcement agents around so they could do surveillance from the air. With area residents fully expecting another shooting soon, there was wide speculation the sniper might be pursuing a new sort of gamesmanship by letting witnesses see him standing and taking aim Monday night in the parking garage. In previous shootings, the gunman has shot across greater distances from perches hidden from witnesses. His weapon can be accurate across distances of 500 yards, according to ballistics specialists who found he is using high-intensity .223-caliber bullets of the sort designed to bring down soldiers or large game on the run. As each shooting occurs without an arrest, "the concern level and the anxiety level are rising," said Doug Duncan, executive in Montgomery County, a northern suburban area where the sniper has slain six people. The other three killings were in Virginia, to the south and west, enlarging the region's circle of fear of the sniper. Police responded to a jittery public with advice on how to react if witnessing a shooting. Demme said people should first secure their own safety and then look in the direction of the sound of the gunshot and make a mental note of people or vehicles in the area. -- Information from the New York Times, Associated Press, Boston Globe and Hearst Newspapers was used in this report.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
