Original subtitles

-Police on alert after a deadly rampage.

Five victims slain randomly, all within 15 hours.

-What am I gonna tell her... Jocelin?

How did I'm gonna tell her this?

Her mom is not coming back.

-Hello, this is a call from...

-Lee Malvo

- an inmate at the Virginia Department of Corrections,

Red Onion State Prison.

-41-year-old man, John Muhammad, and a Jamaican-born teenager...

Sniper team that terrorized the Washington metropolitan area.

-19-11 I have one down. There's blood all over...

-...three weeks, the most intense manhunt

in American history...

-The serial killer hunting down random citizens.

-We have fear levels hear that I think are higher

than they were after September 11th.

-Let me go past!

-President Bush is talking about fighting Iraq,

and we have a war zone right here in this own country.

-Oh! Oh!

Oh, man! Oh man!

-Tonight, the manhunt still underway, yet police admit

they still don't know what kind of person

they are looking for.

There are so few clues.

-The person or the people that are doing this,

rethink what you're doing,

turn yourself in to law enforcement.

-The person won't stop on his own.

He likes the shooting.

This... This is emotional heroin.

And this person won't stop until he's caught or killed.

-Uh, good morning.

We're happy to report a very quiet overnight,

no incidents related to our situation.

Very clearly, we are at a level of anxiety

with our morning rush hour getting ready to start.

I want, again, report a regular,

normal opening of school.

We expect a regular school day.

-I came early for a meeting, and I was coming down the steps.

I heard a very loud bang.

When I opened the door, I expected to see a student

right on the other side.

I thought maybe somebody had kicked the door.

However, I saw a student like 10 feet away

and yelling in pain.

By the time I approached him, he was going down,

and he indicated that he had been shot.

He was clutching his stomach, and he was afraid.

-Uh-huh.

-Is he conscious, breathing?

-The one thing we knew... That a high-powered rifle

was used in all of the other injuries.

So, we were preparing ourselves for what's called

a blast injury.

-Well, the mood was intense

in all of the shootings, in all of the deaths.

It was really a anxious time.

No one ever thought that a child would be involved.

-What happens is, when the bullet goes in

to any kind of an organ, it generates a lot of energy,

so it's like a cone that goes out.

So, the bullet might be going straight,

but that energy that the bullet creates

hits all the organs

like you were thinking about a cone itself.

The spleen was shattered.

Part of the tail of his pancreas was injured.

The lobe of the liver... That was also shattered.

He had a hole in his stomach, and there was a lot of bleeding.

Just that in and of itself was enough

to make me really concerned

about how critical his potential survival was.

I was not convinced that he was gonna survive.

-This just in to the WTOP newsroom...

-There has been a shooting at a school this morning.

A child has been shot

in front of the Benjamin Tasker Middle School.

This is in Bowie.

There is no word on the circumstances of this shooting

or the condition of the child.

-Understandably, the tensions are very, very high in Bowie

where a 13-year-old boy has been shot.

He's critically injured.

-The shooting comes on the heels of a series of deadly shootings

that started in Montgomery County,

then extended into D.C. and Northern Virginia.

-The situation at Tasker right now is a little fluid.

We're trying to get kids back home

to their parents from this one school only.

All other schools,

we are securing students in those buildings.

-I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow,

but I know what's going on right now.

He's with me.

That's what's important.

-I'm just happy that my dad came to get me.

-We've now crossed over, where a student,

an innocent student,

doing what every student does throughout this area...

Going to school every day... Is shot.

When you now involve innocent children,

in a wave of crime, homicide shootings,

you've crossed a line in this country.

I think it was a cold and calculated message to say,

"Now we're here to demonstrate

that your children are not safe.

You haven't been able to stop us,

and now we are now going after children."

-I feel like this is a... A war zone that I'm living in.

You know, President Bush is talking about fighting Iraq,

going in and fighting Iraq,

and we have a war right here in this own county.

-All right, guys.

-Now this kid's been shot, it becomes personal.

It becomes us against them, and we're losing.

Whoever it is, is pretty good.

Of course, we're all really hoping

and praying that this kid makes it

because now the whole game has changed.

-Today, it went down to the children.

Someone is so mean-spirited

that they shot a child.

Now, all of our victims have been innocent,

have been defenseless.

But now we're stepping over the line

because our children don't deserve this.

So, parents, please, do your job tonight...

Engage your children, be there for them.

We're gonna need it.

We're gonna need you to support them.

I guess it's getting to be really, really personal now.

So, if there's any doubt out there

what law enforcement is gonna be engaged in,

what we're gonna be doing, then you can remove all doubt.

When you're on TV at a press conference as the police chief

and you cry, that's really, for many people,

I guess it's unacceptable.

You know, I didn't have any plan to do that.

That wasn't kind of one of those, uh,

"Let's have a meeting, and we'll talk about it,

and then when you get to this moment,

uh, you know, cry."

But I will always be thankful for a number of people

in Montgomery County and other places.

They sent a message that they appreciated the fact

that they've got somebody that cares.

-The 13-year-old reportedly

is suffering from heavy blood loss,

with wounds to his chest and...

-Taken to Children's Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

He was last reported in critical condition.

We're gonna now take you to Children's Hospital

for an update.

-And just confirm that we have been taking care

of a young man who sustained a significant gunshot wound.

It entered his abdomen, went through his chest.

-Is he breathing on his own?

-No, he's not breathing on his own.

He's on a ventilator.

We are actually, uh, breathing for him,

and we anticipate over the next eight hours

that we'll see how he responds.

-A child has been shot in front of

the Benjamin Tasker Middle School.

-Hey, hey! How are you, man?

Hey! - How you doing?

-The basketball player. How you been?

- I've been well. - Can you still shoot that hoop?

- Yes, sir. - Huh? I got a picture of you

up there with that ball just going up there, huh?

Hey, you look fantastic. - He's a lot taller.

- Yes, sir. - Let me see your wound here.

- Absolutely, absolutely. - Oh, look at that!

You must've had some great surgeons.

That's all I can tell you.

Look at this.

-My name is Iran Brown,

and I was 13 years old when I was shot.

-This is the WTOP radio network, WTOP Washington, WTOP...

-That morning I was driven to school by my Aunt Tanya.

I was suspended from the bus because I was eating a Twizzler.

And immediately after I got out of the car, I was shot.

It was a burning sensation,

and I remember looking in the mirror.

I was becoming real pale.

-Is he... is he conscious and breathing?

-I was just losing a lot of blood.

My body was obviously in shock.

My adrenaline was pumping.

It was... it was difficult.

It was difficult.

-Okay, so you picked him up...

Okay.

-I just wanted to survive.

I remember explaining to my aunt, that, uh...

That I loved her and that... Just that I appreciate her,

and I was almost preparing myself to possibly,

you know, pass away.

I remember being placed on the gurney.

Everybody was all rushing to my aid.

And shortly after, I passed out.

-Well, we did take out his spleen,

a portion of his stomach, a portion of his pancreas.

The main thing was to stop the bleeding

that was coming from those organs.

I think he has weathered a significant injury,

and as of this point, we're satisfied

with how he has gotten through surgery.

- It's so good to see you. - Thanks for coming.

- My pleasure, guys. - Yeah.

- You guys are my heroes. - Are you kidding me?

- When did you get this tall?

-I mean, I remember this little guy

laying there on the bed, don't you?

-When I first came around,

the first thing I saw was my mother.

That was a wonderful feeling.

She was very emotional.

I believe my experience definitely had a lot to do

with what I do for a living.

I work in the medical field, and I just truly believe

serving others is the rent that we should pay.

I give thanks every day.

It's a blessing.

I just have to live with the fact that I'll never be 100%.

-Bowie is overrun by federal and local officers.

The ATF, the FBI, and the Secret Service

are all assisting.

Investigators are scouring for any evidence,

like a bullet casing,

that a sniper might've left behind.

- It was my first dog.

His name was, uh, Beacon.

His role that day, my role,

was to search for evidence of shell casings.

They asked me to go in and search this woodline.

If we look to my right, the woodline, uh,

starts just past those two trees right there.

So, what I did was I kind of tried to imagine

if I was trying to shoot somebody, where would I be?

I just needed to come out with a search pattern.

So, I knew I didn't need to go behind the school

because obviously the bullets don't turn corners.

Come on. Let's go. Seek.

A shell casing does not put out a lot of odor,

so that's a very tough search for any dog to do.

One of the SWAT officers said, "It's gonna be very unlikely

that we're gonna find anything."

Honestly, I didn't even notice the change in behavior

until he said, "Hey, pay attention to your dog."

And when I looked, he was sniffing a branch

that was on the ground.

The most tell-tale sign was that big drool that was coming down.

And hours later, they found the shell casing in the area

that the dog alerted.

And that evening, one of the agents called and said,

"Hey, they found a... Some type of note."

It was a tarot card,

and it had a very dark-sounding statement on it.

-On the back of the card, there was a handwritten note

that said, "Call me God.

Do not release to the press."

It didn't give a whole lot of information.

But it did mean that the shooter was beginning to speak to us.

Even though we didn't know who we were talking to,

we believed that we were talking to the shooter.

-The "Mister Police"... Why does he...

Why does he use that language?

Is this someone who's been put down by the police?

Is there a grievance by the police?

Uh, why does he use that term "Call Me God"?

"Please don't release to the press"...

That could have suggested the author,

the schemer behind the document, was an older male.

-Do we need to now, you know,

do something to trigger a shooting?

No. So, we're gonna respect

the fact that says "Do not release to the press,"

and we're not gonna talk about it,

and we're not gonna tell the press.

-We continue to follow developments

in Montgomery County... A terrible murder rampage.

-However, unfortunately, the next morning

somehow one of the local channels

got information about what the card said.

-It could be a critical clue in the sniper shootings.

The gunman reportedly has left a message for police.

-Morning, Katie. Well, more about that calling card.

It was left at the scene of the most recent shooting.

It was a card from a fortune-telling deck.

-A Tarot card like this one

that law-enforcement sources say shows the figure of death.

-I just said, "Now, wait a minute.

Is this card really part of this thing," you know?

I mean, come on. This is like...

it's really got to be a horror flick

if they dropping cards and stuff.

It's like "Silence of the Lambs" or something.

-To leave a Tarot card at the scene

the way the Son of Sam did in the New York cases

and the Zodiac Killer did in California...

-Tarot cards are packed with symbolism.

A message on the card reads "Dear policeman, I am God."

- on this report of the tarot card

found near the Prince George's County site?

-It is inappropriate to comment about this... card.

There's not been anything authorized for release by me.

-Obviously, this leak had come from law enforcement.

And why someone would basically sell their soul

and give that kind of information out

that might jeopardize the investigation,

or, worse, cause someone else to get shot

because you did what the shooter said not to do,

and the Chief was, ballistic, to coin a phrase.

-Our citizens have asked

the Montgomery County Police Department

and all available federal resources

to work this case.

I have not received any message

that the citizens of Montgomery County

want Channel 9 or "The Washington Post"

or any other media outlet to solve this case.

If they do, then let me know.

We will go and do other police work,

and we will turn this case over to the media.

-Well, this was indeed an extraordinary news conference

in Montgomery County this morning, just minutes ago.

-We all have responsibilities, and we all have jobs to do.

Our job is not to sit there and just report the information

that's handed out at those briefings.

-So, I think that there is an investigative-reporter concept,

and they're trying to get ahead of their competitors,

or, you know... or maybe they...

They actually want to solve the case themselves

because that probably helps their career.

-Law-enforcement sources say the card has been taken

to an FBI lab for testing,

looking for the card's origin and analysis of the message.

-And they're not giving us a psychological profile?

- No, No. - They have one. They have...

and we've talked to lots of profilers

who are not necessarily working on this case.

-You want a profile?

Here's a guy who's gonna turn out, I believe,

to be a white, middle-aged male.

-Statistically, it's gonna be a white male

-White male. Young white male.

It... it's somebody who's probably working alone.

-He's gone through a nasty separation or divorce.

-Significant substance abuse...

Drug, alcohol, something like that involved.

-He's had training in firearms, maybe the military.

-These are people who would relish

seeing the press attention that they're getting.

-We still do not know who this is who's doing it.

I don't think anybody can leap to any conclusions

or reach any conclusions about who this is,

and don't interpret that to mean that we're open to

the possibility that it is something connected

to terrorism.

We simply don't know.

-This case didn't make sense.

The only thing I saw was just random shootings,

a shooting spree,

that was to terrorize our part of the world.

My boss said, "Toni, I want you to stand up a tip line."

And I looked at him.

I said, "You gotta be kidding.

Do you know what kind of resources

that's gonna bleed out of our office?

Are you kidding me?"

And he said, "You've got 24 hours."

We didn't have the infrastructure.

We had to put in plugs. We were putting in outlets.

We were putting in computers. We were setting up phones.

We were setting up lines.

And we barely got it completed by 6:00

the morning we were supposed to turn it on.

And we had a big-screen TV on the front of the room,

and I'll never forget it.

The 1-888 number went up on the screen...

-I want to throw out this tip-line number.

If you know anything,

if you think you know anything...

888-324-9800.

- and within seconds,

there was so much noise of phones ringing

that I was stunned.

One of my technical supervisors came up behind me

and said, "We're already 15 minutes backlogged."

We ended up having 88 lines going at a time, 24/7.

-We were tasked with trying to get a handle

of the thousands of tips that were coming in.

For example, someone would call...

"Well, I think my husband did it.

My ex-husband did it.

He's a white "supremist," he owns a rifle,

and he drives a white van."

And we'd have these calls by the hundreds.

And we'd run the record check, and if things matched,

they went to the top of the pile,

and they were gonna get a visit by an investigator.

We were trying to find that proverbial needle in a haystack

in a field full of haystacks,

and for that matter, it was three states of haystacks.

[ Telephone ringing ]

-I'm the snipers.

-Excuse me?

-Someone put up a sign... "No more crazy calls."

And it's like, I kind of got really upset,

and I said, "Come on.

Who do you think's doing this besides a crazy person?"

You know, why would we not want to take crazy calls?

I didn't want us to miss anything

because if we missed anything, or if we weren't fast enough,

someone else was gonna die.

-I was a fresh officer, just out of the academy.

The call went out on the radio that there'd been a shooting.

They asked me to come to the Bob Evans parking lot

and to block it off

and to speak to the individuals

who were trying to exit the scene.

I started speaking to the drivers and passengers...

If anybody had heard or seen anything.

And the overall response was no, just from everybody.

There was a blue Chevy Caprice.

Inside was a black male.

It appeared that the vehicle was only occupied by the driver.

I interviewed him, asked him what had happened

and, you know, why he was here.

He stated that he was on his way home from vacation,

and as he pulled into this area,

he was directed into this parking lot by the police

and that he was just trying to get out.

He was very calm, very normal, and very courteous.

The vehicle did smell.

It was just a mess.

I do remember seeing a sock stuck in the trunk lid.

-We were looking for a white van with ladder racks,

driven by a white male who'd already left the scene.

Didn't write down any of his information.

I asked him to drive safely and to move on.

You just feel like you let the families down.

We had 'em, and, uh, my mistake...

I felt like I let 'em go.

Plain and simple.

-A deadly shooting tonight at a Sunoco gas station

on Sudley Road in Manassas.

-We're told that one man is dead.

He was at the pump at the gas station, shot dead.

-The story is unfolding as we speak.

Whether it is connected to the string of eight shootings,

six fatal that we've seen over a week,

it is still unclear.

-Eight dead now, two injured,

the suspect still on the loose.

-There is growing anxiety about when he'll strike again.

-They have the most definite, promising,

concrete leads that they've had at any point

in this two-week-old investigation.

An eyewitness who last night caught a glimpse of the killer

and the gun that he may be using.

-I knew John.

I knew what he was capable of.

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