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October 7, 2002
Police Link School Shooting With Other Sniper Attacks
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:00 p.m. ET

BOWIE, Md. (AP) -- The Washington-area sniper struck again Monday, shooting and critically wounding a 13-year-old boy as his
aunt dropped him off at school, authorities said.

The shooting of the sniper's youngest victim yet heightened fear across the densely populated neighborhoods surrounding the
nation's capital. Schools kept youngsters indoors at recess and lunchtime and parents raced to pick up their children early
under the watchful eyes of police.

Ballistics tests linked the boy's shooting to last week's slayings of six people in Maryland and Washington and the wounding of
a woman in Virginia, said Joe Riehl, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The child was shot once in the chest before the start of classes at Benjamin Tasker Middle School and was in critical but
stable condition at Children's Hospital in Washington. Doctors said they were optimistic he would survive.

``All of our victims have been innocent and defenseless, but now we're stepping over the line,'' Montgomery County Police
Chief Charles Moose said, tears streaming down his face. ``Shooting a kid -- it's getting to be really, really personal now.''

Five people were shot to death in a 16-hour span in neighboring Montgomery County last Wednesday and Thursday, and
a sixth victim was killed Thursday night in Washington. On Friday, a woman was shot and wounded in Virginia.

A $50,000 reward has been posted for help in solving the shootings.

The victims in last week's shootings also were felled by a single shot.

There were few witnesses to the boy's shooting, Prince George's County Police Chief Gerald Wilson said. A shot was
heard, and the boy slumped over and told his aunt he thought he had been shot, Wilson said.

Police cars surrounded the school and officers put up crime scene tape and searched the campus.

Schools in Montgomery and Prince George's counties initiated a ``code blue'' alert, keeping students inside during
recess and lunchtime.

In Lanham, Dana Buckner picked up her two children at Seabrook Elementary School as the school day came to a close.
They normally ride the bus.

``I felt better having them with me,'' Buckner said. ``I'm worried. I'm going to have to send my kids to school tomorrow.''

At Seabrook Elementary School in nearby Lanham, parent Sonja Moore came to pick up her 6-year-old son, Aaqil,
who normally takes the bus.

``You send your kids off to school, you think they're going to be safe,'' she said.

Police and federal agents pored over maps and put together a psychological profile to hunt down the sniper,
stepping up patrols and sorting through thousands of tips.

Police also began to use a geographic profile submitted by investigators that uses crime locations to determine where
the killer feels comfortable traveling and may live.

The victims were all gunned down in public places: the boy outside school, two at gas stations, one outside a grocery,
another outside a post office, another as he mowed the grass at an auto dealership, 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 of the victims. Dr. Martin Eichelberger, director of emergency
trauma service at Children's Hospital, said doctors working on the boy made a special effort to find a portion of the bullet
to give to police.

Ballistics evidence also linked the Maryland slayings with the wounding of a 43-year-old woman Friday. She was shot in the
back in a parking lot at a craft store in Fredericksburg, Va., 50 miles south of here, and was in fair condition Monday.

At Benjamin Tasker Middle School, 13-year-old Othar Haskins stood outside with his mother. He said he was a friend of t
he wounded boy.

``He's funny, he's always around friends,'' Othar said, crying and leaning his head on his mother's shoulder. ``He helps you
out when you need it. He's a good friend.''

Another shooting Monday in the District of Columbia was under investigation, though police said they believe the motive was robbery.

``This community is in a state of fear,'' Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan said.