1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Monster DC Sniper, a production of iHeart Radio 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: and Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: podcast are solely those of the podcast author or individuals 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: participating in the podcast, and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV, or their employees. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 2: Saying somebody got shot as fire Personnaco. 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 3: Okay, somebody got shrial, but I did playing there man. 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 3: He's laying on the car and there was a white 9 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 3: man just went by with two guys in it. The 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 3: man just went gone, now walk forward. We did not 11 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 3: the two thirty two thirty four went out a whitey. Okay, 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 3: well there go, there's. 13 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 2: A going down thirty color chwards your distraction. I'll go 14 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,959 Speaker 2: with sixty four, okay. Sean taken information the asters all 15 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 2: the way. I'm the possibatoration. 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 4: A call in the evening on October ninth from a 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 4: source saying, you need to get out to Manassas. There's 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 4: been another one. 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 5: This is Washington Post reporter Josh White. 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 4: There was nothing more than that. I was given a location. 21 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 4: I knew the area, so I knew that they would 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 4: have shut down the intersection right by the gas station. 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 4: So I went past the gas station, got off onto 24 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 4: a side road and came up the back way, and 25 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 4: I thought, well, if you wanted to get a really 26 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 4: good view of the crime scene, you would go up 27 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 4: onto this hill. There was a Bob Evans that overlooked 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 4: the gas station from across the road. Standing there on 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 4: that hill and looking down at that crime scene, it 30 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 4: was lit up at night. Somebody standing there would have 31 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 4: been framed fully in light. It's like a lit up 32 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 4: target with a million access points. They had shut down 33 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 4: the parking lot and they were interviewing everyone who was leaving. 34 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 4: I drove up and I got into an adjacent parking lot, 35 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 4: and I walked right to where I thought. 36 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 5: Would be the best view. 37 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 4: That, too, was something that the snipers realized that that 38 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 4: was the best view of that gas station view because 39 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 4: I'm fairly certain I stood directly next to the vehicle 40 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,839 Speaker 4: that they had been using to kill tons and tons 41 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 4: of people facing the gas station below. 42 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: There is a ruthless person on the loose. 43 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 6: What I nerves this community the most is the randomness 44 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 6: of the murders, ordinary people doing ordinary things. 45 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 5: They killed the five people in one day and then 46 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 5: went on the rampage for the next month. 47 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 7: It is quite a mystery. 48 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 5: The police say they have never had a crime quite 49 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 5: like this. 50 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 8: Be careful, these guys are using weapons that are going 51 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,119 Speaker 8: to go right straight through our bulletproof vests. 52 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 9: The white. 53 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 5: From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. This is monster DC sniper. 54 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 10: Nine sniper attacks in eight days have the Washington metropolitan 55 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 10: area on high alert. Since last Wednesday, seven people have 56 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 10: been killed and two wounded. One was a thirteen year 57 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 10: old boy who was critically wounded at a Maryland middle school. 58 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 10: The latest shooting took place just after eight o'clock last night, 59 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 10: about thirty miles west of Washington, d C. 60 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 5: October ninth, two thousand and two. It has now been 61 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 5: a full week since the spree of sniper killings began 62 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 5: in the DC metro area. Most of the attacks had 63 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 5: taken place in Maryland, except for one shooting at a 64 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 5: Michael's Inspontsylvania, Virginia, but now the snipers were on the move. 65 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 11: On October ninth, the week following the Montgomery County shootings, 66 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 11: a man who worked in an office building in Manassas 67 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 11: was out pumping gas not too far from where he 68 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 11: worked got named Dean Myers. 69 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 5: This is Dave Statner, reporter for Channel nine News. 70 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 11: He's on Sudley Road and Saint Prince William County, Virginia, 71 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 11: and he's just pumping gas and shot and killed. 72 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 5: Bob Myers. The victim's brother, spoke about the shooting at 73 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 5: a press conference. 74 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 12: I would like to know the reason that would help me, 75 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 12: but I recognize that whatever reason it is, it won't 76 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 12: be a good one. 77 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 5: This attack sent a ripple through the region. It was 78 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,239 Speaker 5: the third shooting to take place at a gas station. 79 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 5: As Channel nine reporter Dave Stander points out, now the 80 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 5: people of Virginia had a lot to worry about. 81 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 11: This is where you're really starting to notice how cautious 82 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 11: people are filling up with gasoline. People are being extremely 83 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 11: cautious and once again, like the people the first day 84 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 11: we knew about this, the woman vacuuming our car, the 85 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,799 Speaker 11: taxi driver who's pumping gas. This happened to Dean Myers. 86 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 11: He's filling up with gasoline. So now the real focus 87 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 11: is what do I do when I'm pumping gas. I 88 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 11: have to get gasoline from my car. There are gas 89 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,840 Speaker 11: stations that are starting to put up barricade or harps 90 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 11: to block your people are ducking around the other side 91 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 11: of their vehicle, or putting the nozzle into their vehicle 92 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 11: and walking away from the vehicle, trying to get some 93 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 11: sort of cover. So people are clearly scared filling up 94 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 11: with gasoline, and this shooting of Dean Myers just added 95 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 11: to that fear. 96 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 5: Who could have imagined that somewhere as mundane as a 97 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,239 Speaker 5: gas station could become the impetus for such crippling fear. 98 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 5: I visited the Sonoco station in Manassas, Virginia, where Dean 99 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 5: Myers was killed, and the scene brought back some vivid 100 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 5: memories from that October in two thousand and two. Maybe 101 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 5: one of the indelible images that I have in my 102 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 5: mind from those days. I mean, it really is of 103 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 5: seeing the blue tarp that was serving as a bit 104 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,239 Speaker 5: of a barrier protecting people. So people are pumping gas 105 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 5: and they're essentially under around behind this blue tarp. And 106 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 5: the other thing I recall is hearing stories of cops 107 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 5: being asked by folks who needed a fill. Hey, I'll 108 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 5: give you some extra money to fill up my gas 109 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 5: tank because I'm so afraid. I'm afraid to do it myself, 110 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 5: Would you take this extra twenty to fill up my 111 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 5: gas tank? That sort of speaks to how much fear 112 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 5: there was at the time. I think the other thing 113 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 5: that we can't imagine today someone getting away with all 114 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 5: of these episodes, all of these attacks and not clearly 115 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 5: being established on some kind of surveillance cameras, some kind 116 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 5: of CCTV. In two thousand nineteen, come on, you couldn't 117 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 5: even attempt something like what we're talking about now shooting 118 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 5: someone dead in a Sunoco gas station. But we're talking 119 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 5: about two thousand and two. We're also talking post nine 120 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 5: to eleven, so you're talking about putting more of those 121 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 5: systems in place. 122 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 13: At that point, we still have officers at the scene 123 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 13: searching for evidence, going over it iculously. 124 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 5: Police believed they were on the sniper's trail. At a 125 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 5: press conference following the Dean Meyer shooting, officials revealed what 126 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 5: type of vehicle they thought the snipers were using. 127 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 7: The only information we have on a possible vehicle was 128 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 7: a white mini van described as a panel vehicle, meaning 129 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 7: it had only front passenger windows. 130 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 13: The rest was solid. 131 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 5: Officials thought the snipers might still be in the area, 132 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 5: so police set up roadblocks on the streets near the 133 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 5: crime scene. Nearby parking lots were shut down. No one 134 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 5: was allowed to leave. Hundreds of people were stopped and questioned, 135 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 5: but no suspects were detained. Officer Stephen Bailey's job was 136 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 5: to scout the Bob Evans parking lot for potential witnesses. 137 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 5: He remembers approaching one specific vehicle. The driver inside said 138 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 5: he was on vacation. This man also said he'd been 139 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 5: directed into the parking lot by another officer. Bailey said 140 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 5: the man was quote very polite and very courteous, and 141 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 5: so with no reason to detain him, Bailey let the 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 5: man leave. It would be months later that Officer Bailey 143 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 5: had a terrible realization the man he met that day 144 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 5: was the killer they were looking for. 145 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 4: I think that, in a lot of ways is a 146 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 4: microcosm of the challenge that was facing everybody. 147 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 5: This is Washington Post reporter Josh White. He told the 148 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 5: story of standing near the killer's vehicle at the beginning 149 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 5: of the episode, but like Officer Stephen Bailey, he didn't 150 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 5: think anything of it. 151 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 14: At the time. 152 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 4: Nobody knew who they were looking for, nobody knew what 153 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,959 Speaker 4: vehicle to look for. Nobody knew the mechanism of the shooting. 154 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 4: Was it coming from a car, was it coming from outside. Ultimately, 155 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 4: when they found the vehicle, it was obvious to everyone 156 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 4: why the vehicle was so difficult to detect. It was 157 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 4: an engineered killing machine. It was built in a way 158 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 4: to avoid detection. It was altered in a way that 159 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 4: if you you were to walk right up to it, 160 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 4: you wouldn't think twice. It wouldn't strike you externally as 161 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 4: anything to worry about. I thought, I don't know how 162 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 4: they're ever going to catch this person. It really showed 163 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 4: the vulnerability. It showed that if somebody wants to go 164 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 4: after someone who they have no connection to, randomly in 165 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 4: a metropolitan area, that's millions of people, what's stopping them? 166 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 15: For me? 167 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 4: That was one of the scariest moments. That shooting highlighted 168 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 4: how difficult this all was and how frightening it all was. 169 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 5: This shooting also marked another major shift in the case, 170 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 5: one that greatly raised the stakes for the snipers. 171 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 4: They I think unbeknownst to them, obviously, they had committed 172 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 4: a crime in a county that had one of the 173 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 4: more aggressive prosecutors from a capital punishment perspective, Paul Ebert, do. 174 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 16: You a distinction, but not unusual occasions happened. 175 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,839 Speaker 5: This is Paul Ebert, Virginia's longest serving prosecutor. I spoke 176 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 5: with him at his office in Prince William County. He 177 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 5: remembers when Dean Meyers was shot in his district. 178 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 16: My daughter had strange enough about a half a block 179 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 16: where it has happened. When it happened, you out a bank. 180 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,200 Speaker 16: I went to the scene. I got normally do on 181 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 16: a murder case. We don't have that many murders. It 182 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 16: helps me to be able to visualize what's going on. 183 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,200 Speaker 16: A lot of press, a lot of people. The body 184 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 16: was gone, chucked around. Of course, it was pretty ivous 185 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 16: that the snipers had done this before, the history leading 186 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 16: up to it, and he I had no idea if 187 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 16: and when would ever get the case try. I talked 188 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 16: with a couple of reporters that I knew, and I 189 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 16: did say that if this is a sniper, it looks 190 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 16: like it is just a death case. Absolute some kind 191 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,199 Speaker 16: of a great mitigating factor. It was a capitol case. 192 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 5: Paul Elbert was issuing a direct threat to the snipers. 193 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 5: We went on television that day to say that quote 194 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 5: this case, if I have anything to do with it, 195 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 5: will be prosecuted in this jurisdiction to the full extent 196 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 5: of the law. Ebert has sentenced more inmates to death 197 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 5: row than any other Virginia prosecutor. So if the sniper 198 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 5: was following the news, they would have known that if caught, 199 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 5: they would eventually face the death penalty. The snipers weren't 200 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 5: done in Virginia, as the area was still reeling from 201 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 5: the death of Dean Harold Myers. Tragedy struck once more. 202 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 5: Channel nine reporter Dave's Statter was there on. 203 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 11: The morning of October eleventh, two days after Dean Myers 204 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 11: has shot pumping guests in the Monastass area of Virginia. 205 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 11: Further south, in the Vicksburg area, there's another man shot, 206 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 11: fifty three year old Kenneth Bridges. He's shot dead pumping 207 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 11: gasoline at Nexxon station. This is just off Interstate ninety five, 208 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:14,959 Speaker 11: of heavily traveled roadway between Richmond and Washington, this portion 209 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 11: of I ninety five. We worked our way down there 210 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 11: to just off the highway, and it was difficult getting 211 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 11: to that scene. The traffic was just horrendous because the 212 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,319 Speaker 11: roadway was shut down just off I ninety five. Police 213 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 11: were probably stopping vehicles coming and going. As we're traveling 214 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,439 Speaker 11: down to the scene, we're being passed by convoys of 215 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,959 Speaker 11: federal agents heading down there and police from other jurisdictions 216 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 11: trying to get through the same traffic, but they at 217 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 11: least have lights in siren. We finally went onto some 218 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 11: alternate routes and work away up to the scene and 219 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 11: we see police. There's tons of police there. We get 220 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 11: there and here we are watching now, which to us 221 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,839 Speaker 11: is almost eerie and bizarre. Yet another person pumping gasoline, 222 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,319 Speaker 11: shot dead, doing what we all do every day, and 223 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 11: the tension is continuing to grow. 224 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 5: Shortly after the crime scene was secured, Virginia Police held 225 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 5: a press conference. They described how they responded and what 226 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 5: they were searching for. 227 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 17: We are looking for a white van that may had 228 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 17: a ladder rack on top of it. We do not, 229 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 17: in our stress, we do not know if it was 230 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 17: involved in the shooting or not. It was seen in 231 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,320 Speaker 17: the area by several people, and we do want to 232 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 17: talk to those people. We had a Virginia State Trooper uniform. 233 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 17: Trooper was across the street from the shooting work in 234 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 17: the traffic accident. He heard the shots. He ran directly 235 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 17: across the street and rendered aid through the victim until 236 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 17: the rescue squad arrived. Once at the hospital, the victim 237 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 17: was pronounced dead. 238 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 5: The victim, Kenneth Bridges, was a family man. He had 239 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 5: six children and the wife of twenty five years. 240 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 6: Obviously, everyone was devastated at this horrendous act. In this 241 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 6: horrendous event, losing a loving, hunt husband and a strong, giving, 242 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 6: caring father. Since that time, however, I have seen the 243 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 6: family become stronger and stronger as the hours go by. 244 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 5: Bridges was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had just been passing 245 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 5: through the DC area when his life was tragically cut short. 246 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 5: Friends say Bridges was a pillar of his community. He 247 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 5: co founded Mata, a nonprofit company which fosters black owned businesses. 248 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 18: I'm telling you this was a near perfect man who 249 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 18: loved his family, who loved his people. Kenny was a visionary, 250 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 18: a man with great purpose, single minded purpose that he 251 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 18: had built his entire world around. Ken Bridges has infected 252 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 18: thousands and thousands of people all across the country with 253 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 18: this vision. 254 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 5: Of his The impacts of the d C sniper attacks 255 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 5: were spreading further and further. Families and communities all across 256 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 5: the country had now been affected in various perable ways. 257 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 11: We're realizing that this thing is not getting smaller, it's 258 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 11: not getting narrower, it's getting larger. 259 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 5: This is Channel nine reporter Dave's statter again. 260 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 11: All along this ninety five Carter people are being attacked. 261 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 11: We see it in Montgomery County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland. 262 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 11: We're still trying to figure out what's going on, Why 263 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 11: is this happening. We're talking to police every day, and 264 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 11: it was clear they were having a bit of a 265 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 11: time making sense of why these attacks were occurring at 266 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 11: these locations, and that just really added to the fear 267 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 11: of everybody because nobody could make clear sense of it. 268 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 5: By this point, ten people had been shot for what 269 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 5: seemed like no reason, and the public had very little 270 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 5: information to go on. All anyone knew was to be 271 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 5: on the lookout for a white van or white box truck. 272 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 5: The public was losing confidence in law enforcement's abilities. Police 273 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 5: were under tremendous pressure to catch these killers. Things seemed 274 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 5: to be working, So what was their plan? 275 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 12: We had strategies, I mean, I started out and I 276 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 12: had a mission. 277 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 5: This is Drew Tracy, retired Assistant Chief of Police from 278 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 5: Montgomery County. 279 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 12: We had to protect our first responders, we had to 280 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 12: protect the citizens, but we also had to have that 281 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 12: investigative role and that ability to stop what was going on, 282 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 12: and that was our mission. 283 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 5: But how would they find the shooters? Tracy says they 284 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 5: employed a tactic known as a drag net. It starts 285 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 5: with police creating a large perimeter around a crime scene 286 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 5: to ensnare any potential suspects. 287 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 12: We actually had circles that we put on a map, 288 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 12: so if a shooting went out, we knew that vehicle 289 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 12: could only go in fifteen or twenty minutes so far, 290 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 12: so we tried to slow things down, slow it by 291 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 12: slowing traffic almost type of roadblocks. And what we did 292 00:16:58,120 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 12: is we had immediate action teams. 293 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 11: We need to be on. 294 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 12: Scene in two to three minutes of any critical incident 295 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,679 Speaker 12: or possible incident. Then we worked on predetermined roles. I 296 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,360 Speaker 12: went over a game plan and showed if the shooting 297 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,880 Speaker 12: is within this district, here's everybody's predetermined location they had 298 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 12: to go to. 299 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 19: And then what we would do. 300 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 12: Is bring in their support we'd get plane closed units 301 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,719 Speaker 12: who look like normal people try to get closer in 302 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 12: to try to pick out a suspect or a vehicle. 303 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,239 Speaker 12: So then we could bring in the tactical officers and 304 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 12: utilize the takedown in a safe way, so we wouldn't 305 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 12: put people in danger. The thing that I think was well, 306 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 12: I know for a fact, was really holding us back 307 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 12: is we didn't get good suspect information. They would put 308 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 12: out multiple lookouts because people would just scatter from a 309 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 12: certain area and you had vehicles going in every direction 310 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 12: and no one knew exactly if one was involved or not. 311 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 12: So we had a pretty good game plan, but the 312 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 12: problem was we aren't being provided good intelligence and suspect 313 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 12: information from lookout that hurt us. 314 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 5: One incident directly after the shooting of Kenneth Bridges highlights 315 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 5: this issue. Police searched nearby motels looking for a suspect. 316 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 5: They had a somewhat fuzzy picture of the suspect from 317 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 5: a security camera and with a description from that, police 318 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,119 Speaker 5: detained and questioned a man at one of the motels, 319 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 5: but it was quickly the termed he wasn't the sniper, 320 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 5: and so by the end of the day, no viable 321 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 5: suspects have been arrested. As the shooting spread further from DC, 322 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,160 Speaker 5: nearby jurisdictions were biding their time, fearful that at any 323 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 5: moment an attack what happen in their area. 324 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,400 Speaker 19: I was absolutely sure that we were going to get 325 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 19: a shooting. My name is Bruce Gooth. I'm a retired 326 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 19: lieutenant from Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia. Fairfax is 327 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 19: four hundred square miles by one point two million people, 328 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 19: and I was sure we were going to get hit 329 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:22,159 Speaker 19: sooner or later. Sure enough, on October fourteenth, one of 330 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 19: my guys who was working called me on my cellphone 331 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 19: and said, Hey, I think we just had a sniper 332 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 19: shooting down at the Home Depot, which is the False 333 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 19: Church area of Fairfax County, which is right at the 334 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 19: border of Arlington County in Fairfax County. He said that 335 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 19: a woman had been shot in the head underneath the 336 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 19: parking garage. 337 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 5: The victim was forty seven year old FBI analyst Linda Franklin. 338 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 5: She was loading shopping bags into the trunk of her 339 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 5: car right before she was shot. Linda was with her husband, 340 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 5: Ted Franklin, who then called nine to one to one 341 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 5: in distress. A warning The following audio could be upsetting 342 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 5: to some listeners. 343 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 2: Where are you at and with the home people. 344 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 3: Un roughed. 345 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 2: You had shot? Was shot? Two shot of the hood. 346 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 19: So I got in my car and I drove down 347 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 19: to Falls Church. I was one of the first detectives there. 348 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,479 Speaker 19: My first memory was the smell of diesel diesel fuel 349 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 19: from the ambulance. There was an ambulance parked underneath the 350 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:56,479 Speaker 19: parking garage. Inside the ambulance was mister Franklin. They had 351 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 19: put him in there. Obviously he was quite distraught. It 352 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 19: was adistrophic head injury that he witnessed, and he had 353 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 19: been spattered with blood. 354 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 5: General nine reporter Dave Statter also rushed to the scene. 355 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 11: After a long day of working on the sniper case 356 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 11: on October fourteenth, my Patrick goes off. It's my colleague 357 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 11: Greg geis telling me there's a shooting right up the 358 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 11: street at the home depot at the top of our street. 359 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 11: I race up to the top of the street in 360 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 11: my car, come into the shopping center and apparently I 361 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 11: came in from the opposite side of police and fire, 362 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 11: and I go into this covered parking area outside the 363 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 11: home depot and I'm pull up and I see a 364 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,360 Speaker 11: grocery cart and it's full of stuff. And I look 365 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 11: down from that grocery cart and there's a woman's body 366 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 11: lying on the pavement. Her head is covered with some 367 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 11: kind of yellow sheet, and I realized, well, I'm way 368 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 11: too close, and I immediately pull out to just outside 369 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 11: the covered area and there are police running with police 370 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 11: tape to secure the scene. I pulled out my home 371 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 11: video camera and you see in my first video the 372 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 11: ambulance pull up and go up to look at Miss 373 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 11: Franklin's body, and the next thing I see are police 374 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 11: officers running with their guns drawn across Route fifty, a 375 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 11: six lane highway, to an apartment complex across the street 376 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 11: where there's a white vehicle that looks sort of like 377 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 11: a box truck. They have their guns drawn on what 378 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 11: turned out to be painters who were coming out of 379 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 11: the apartment building, and they put their hands up immediately. 380 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 5: The painters were just in the wrong place at the 381 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 5: wrong time, so police let them go. 382 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 11: We were reporting. I went live on the air with 383 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 11: a phone report because I didn't have a live TV 384 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 11: truck with me and no other crews were there. We 385 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,719 Speaker 11: broke into coverage with what appeared to be another shooting. 386 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,160 Speaker 11: Police obviously had a plan for the next shooting. They 387 00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,439 Speaker 11: shut down a good portion of the Capitol Beltway that 388 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 11: brings Washingrington, DC. They wanted to make sure that they 389 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 11: could get the vehicle, and the lookout that they knew 390 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 11: they were looking for that evening was a white box truck. 391 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 11: They shut down Route fifty, they shut down four ninety 392 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 11: ninety five, and it created an enormous traffic gym that evening. 393 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 5: According to Virginia Detective Bruce Gooth, it was quickly clear 394 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 5: to them that this was a sniper shooting, and they 395 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 5: had limited time to catch the vehicle before it was 396 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 5: too late. 397 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 19: I don't think there was a soul in law enforcement 398 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 19: that didn't think for a second that it wasn't them. 399 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 19: It was clear that it was a somewhat long range shot. 400 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 19: We had our SWAT team put a perimeter up around 401 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 19: where we were to kind of protect us while we 402 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 19: were working a crime scene. We had pre planned that. 403 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 5: Once again, the night ended with no real suspects, but 404 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 5: perhaps for the first time, law enforcement had a viable 405 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 5: witness who said he'd seen not just a vehicle but 406 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 5: the actual shooter. The witness was a man named Matthew Dowdy. 407 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 19: And he just described a vehicle and he said the 408 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,719 Speaker 19: guy was leaning out like on the driver's side mirror. 409 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 19: He saw the rifle, saw the shot go off. He 410 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 19: was inside the parking lot. This guy we had to 411 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 19: investigate and had two detectives take him back to the 412 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,679 Speaker 19: station and get a statement from him. You know, that 413 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 19: was the first lead where someone had actually seen somebody. 414 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 19: That next day after the murder, we had a debrief 415 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 19: with Montgomery County and all the other jurisdictions. 416 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 5: Virginia officials shared the specific details of Matthew Dowdy's story. 417 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 5: He said he saw an olive skinned man step out 418 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 5: of a cream colored van. The man then shot Franklin 419 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 5: with an AK assault rifle. Dowdy said. The man then 420 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 5: got back into the van and drove away. Dowdy described 421 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 5: the vehicle as a Chevy astro van with a broken 422 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 5: tail light. 423 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 19: I'll never forget this Chief Moose ten minutes into when 424 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 19: we were trying to get everybody settled in, and he 425 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 19: waved me over. He sat down and he goes, you 426 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 19: are absolutely nuts for having this meeting and putting out 427 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 19: all you're going to put out, you know, as much 428 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 19: as everybody's leaking, all this stuff is going to get 429 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 19: out that there's a witness. And I said, well, you 430 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,880 Speaker 19: know that that's just the way it is, because I'm 431 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 19: not holding back information from other homicide detectives. And you know, 432 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 19: we'll take our lumps. If it leaks, it leaks, and 433 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 19: you know, we'll deal with it. But I'll never forget 434 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 19: him shaking his head like you're crazy. But we made 435 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 19: up our mind. You know, we were going to share 436 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 19: whatever we had with surely the homicide detectives that we 437 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 19: were dealing with, and they had helped us in the 438 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 19: past with other cases, so there are people I could trust. 439 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 5: This incident was especially puzzling to investigators. Had the snipers 440 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 5: specifically targeted an FBI agent. If so, was this shooting 441 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,919 Speaker 5: some sort of message sent to law enforcement that not 442 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,640 Speaker 5: even they were safe. Up to this point, there had 443 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,719 Speaker 5: been nothing to suggest that these attacks were anything but random, 444 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,919 Speaker 5: but now investigators were unsure. On top of all this, 445 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 5: the witness, Matthew Dowdie, described the suspect as an olive 446 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 5: skinned man with an ak. This reinforced the notion that 447 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 5: the snipers were potentially terrorists from the Middle East, but 448 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 5: profilers had determined by this point that that was incredibly unlikely. 449 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 5: So what was going on here? 450 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 11: My thought process was maybe different than some others. What's 451 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 11: going through my mind not what I'm reporting, but what 452 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,919 Speaker 11: I'm thinking clearly at that time is that this is 453 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 11: some sort of international terrorism, because what I'm rickly realizing 454 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 11: is that with a few bullets and a vehicle, somebody 455 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 11: is shutting down commerce in the area, panicking hordes of 456 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 11: people in and around the nation's capital. And I'm thinking, 457 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 11: here we are, year ofter nine to eleven, this is 458 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 11: likely some sort of international terrorism. That's just a gut 459 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,479 Speaker 11: I had from watching it. You know, if you live 460 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 11: in Israel or a place where there's lots of bombings 461 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,920 Speaker 11: and car bombs and bombs on buses and in restaurants, 462 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 11: you'll live a certain way and you're used to it. 463 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 11: We're not used to that in the Washington area, where 464 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 11: there's a lot of random shootings where people are just 465 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,959 Speaker 11: shot doing their routine business. So it's just going through 466 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 11: my mind, what an unusual way to shut us down 467 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 11: and to really impact us. 468 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 5: Channel nine reporter Dave Stanner kept up with the Linda 469 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,199 Speaker 5: Franklin story for the next few days, hoping that the 470 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 5: witness identification might lead to a break in the case. 471 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 11: The next morning, they continued doing the lookouts for the 472 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 11: white van, more stopping of white vans white box trucks, 473 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 11: but they find out soon that the information they got 474 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 11: was bad. 475 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,919 Speaker 20: In suburban Virginia Today where the killer last struck, a 476 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 20: frantic search for clues touched off by a phony witness's 477 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 20: confession last night, but his story that he'd seen the killer, 478 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 20: his van his gun was all a lie, and Task 479 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 20: Force leader Chief Charles Moose was especially worried about that. 480 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 15: Maybe we didn't hear from some people because they saw 481 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 15: that picture and they said the person I was thinking 482 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 15: about doesn't have one. 483 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 7: It ohs. 484 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 11: You can see in the back of my video a 485 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 11: gentleman in the video that I didn't realize who he 486 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 11: was till later. This a guy named Matthew Dowdy. He 487 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 11: was thirty seven years old at the time, and Matthew 488 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,439 Speaker 11: Daddy said he witnessed the shooting of Linda Franklin at 489 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 11: the home depot and what he said was a white 490 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 11: box truck sped from the scene. Police investigated further Matthew 491 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 11: Dowdy's claim, and what they determined was that Matthew Doddy, 492 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 11: thanks to security camera video, they could tell was still 493 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 11: inside the store when Linda Franklin was shot. He was 494 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 11: not outside the store in the parking lot area where 495 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 11: this occurred, in the covered parking area, and they quickly 496 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 11: discounted his information. Matthew Dowddy. They also found out how 497 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 11: to long criminal record. He like others, had heard of 498 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 11: the white box truck in the news. It was prominently 499 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 11: out there, and thought he went and interjected himself in 500 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 11: the case he did it, I don't know other than 501 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 11: I'm sure he didn't have a lot of love for 502 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 11: police because he had a long criminal record and actually 503 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 11: had escaped from jail or prison many years earlier in 504 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 11: another charge. Not too long after the shooting of Linda Franklin, 505 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 11: the police chief of Fairfax County, Tom Manger, held a 506 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 11: press conference and said they had the wrong information, made 507 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 11: it very clear that they were charging this person who 508 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 11: gave him the wrong information. Apologized for letting the public 509 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 11: in on this information and it was a bit of 510 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 11: a setback for this case. An interesting note about Matthew 511 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 11: Dowdy About two years later and a mile and a 512 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 11: half away, he murdered and raped a woman at a 513 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 11: motel in the city of False Church, Virginia, and was 514 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 11: arrested and convicted for that murder. So his criminal activity 515 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 11: continued after providing bogus information to police at the Home 516 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 11: Depot shooting. 517 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 5: Following this incident, journalist and police alank began to doubt 518 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 5: earlier witness accounts. What if the first description of a 519 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 5: white box truck was false and police were on a 520 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 5: wild goose chase. Some experts came forward with ideas. 521 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 9: At the time of the DC sniper case. I was 522 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 9: following the events just as anyone else was. I tended 523 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 9: to look at them a little bit differently, I think 524 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 9: because I've been doing this research. My name is Gary Wells. 525 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 9: I'm a professor of psychology at Iowa State University, and 526 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 9: my main line of study is the reliability of eyewitnesses. 527 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 9: So I'm looking at it differently, and I'm looking for 528 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 9: what are witnesses going to be able to tell? Really, 529 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 9: people process a lot less information than we think. When 530 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 9: they scan in their environment, They're really only taking in 531 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 9: a very small fraction of information. They get the sense 532 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 9: that they're seeing everything, when in fact there's being very little, 533 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 9: and so therefore a lot doesn't get stored. Moreover, we 534 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 9: now know that memory changes some over time. You take 535 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 9: in new information and you kind of stick it in 536 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 9: with what you remembered, and now you've got a new memory. 537 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 9: So I guess my biggest interest and concern was how 538 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 9: the investigators of the DC sniper shootings were proceeding here. 539 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 9: And I was particularly concerned about this relatively early report 540 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 9: about a white truck or a white man. The reason 541 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,719 Speaker 9: I was concerned about that was because I thought it 542 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 9: was premature. I didn't think that law enforcement, under the circumstances, 543 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 9: should have given much credibility to that report. Somehow, the 544 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 9: investigators decided to release that information and in effect sort 545 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 9: of say we're looking for a white van. I think 546 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 9: that was a huge mistake. There's two reasons to really 547 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 9: be concerned about that. One is that you're creating a 548 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:16,520 Speaker 9: situation in which it's very difficult for law enforcement to 549 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 9: win this game. If it was a white van, then 550 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 9: you can pretty much guarantee that this person's going to 551 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 9: switch vehicles because oh, they're onto the white van. We 552 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 9: can't do that. If on the other hand, it wasn't 553 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,719 Speaker 9: the white van that gives a lot to cover a 554 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 9: lot of comfort to the shooters, because it's sort of like, 555 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,160 Speaker 9: h they have no idea what they're looking at, right, 556 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 9: So you just gave them permission to continue with their 557 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 9: standard mo because everybody's looking for a white van. From 558 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 9: a witness perspective, it's a particularly bad thing to do, 559 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 9: because it turns out I did a little bit of 560 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 9: homework the time to find out that white vans are 561 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 9: pretty close to the most common vehicle on the road 562 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 9: in urban environments. And the reason they are is because 563 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 9: they're so often used as service vehicles. So you know, 564 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 9: those appliance repair men and those roofers and those plumbers 565 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,480 Speaker 9: and all these companies are driving all over the place 566 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 9: in white vans. So what happens then is as soon 567 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 9: as you discover there's been a shooting and you look around, 568 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 9: you'll always see a white van. So of course, the 569 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 9: next shooting, white van, next shooting, somebody reports white van. 570 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 9: Of course, somebody's always going to report a white van 571 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 9: in any urban setting. You're taking away their opportunity to 572 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 9: see anything other than a white van at that point, 573 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 9: and everybody knew to be looking for that. I think 574 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 9: that was that was a pretty bad mistake. 575 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 5: But if not a white van or white box truck, 576 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,600 Speaker 5: than what had police seen any other vehicles at the 577 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 5: crime scenes? 578 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 14: You know, I'll never understand that. How did they rule 579 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 14: out all other vehicles and they being police department's, FBI officials, everyone. 580 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,439 Speaker 5: This is Greg Geiss, a photographer and videographer for Channel 581 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 5: nine News. On October third, the second day of the shootings. 582 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 5: Greg was covering the attacks. 583 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,759 Speaker 14: I was with reporter Gary Reels. We're driving southbound on 584 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 14: Connecticut Avenue. I kept the fire and EMS dispatch channels 585 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:40,920 Speaker 14: locked on several different radios. And what will stick with 586 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 14: me forever are two different police officers in two different 587 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 14: cars key their mic and say, you know, I see 588 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,839 Speaker 14: this dark colored crown Fit or Capri, sort of an 589 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:55,840 Speaker 14: old police looking vehicle driving with the lights on, heading north. 590 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,800 Speaker 14: And I turned to the right and said to Gary Reels, 591 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 14: I wonder if the sniper's driving a war wagon or 592 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,439 Speaker 14: a hoopdie. A war wagon being a term used for 593 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 14: old cars that are sometimes used in gang like violence 594 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,240 Speaker 14: by some of what at the time were called cruise 595 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 14: in the Washington area and a hooptie being just an 596 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 14: old junk car that are often used sometimes by folks 597 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,720 Speaker 14: who've stolen a car for joy ride or somebody who's 598 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,440 Speaker 14: using a stolen vehicle to commit a crime. I left 599 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,440 Speaker 14: that evening with a feeling that in some way, a dark, 600 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:41,400 Speaker 14: older model police style Sa'dan may have been involved in 601 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 14: these crimes. The powers that be arrived at the fact 602 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 14: that they're looking for a white box truck. I never 603 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 14: bought into that. Everything I heard indicated a dark, old 604 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,120 Speaker 14: model Sedan, and we would engage in conversation different officers 605 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 14: in myself and I would relay that story about the 606 00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:07,240 Speaker 14: border vehicles that I heard from Metropolitan Police in Washington, 607 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 14: and the cops were perplexed that they never got that information. 608 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 14: They never heard the nu odds of the cops king 609 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,239 Speaker 14: their mic and if you will, flashing a lookout for 610 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 14: what they viewed were suspicious vehicles leaving a scene. 611 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,240 Speaker 5: In a press conference, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose 612 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 5: conceited maybe the white box truck identification was a misfire. 613 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,840 Speaker 15: It's not beyond any reality that the person our people 614 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 15: involved in this would have numerous vehicles that they could 615 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 15: be using. 616 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,759 Speaker 5: If law enforcement had missed the drop on other suspect vehicles. 617 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,920 Speaker 5: What else could they have missed? Little did they know 618 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:51,200 Speaker 5: the shooters had actually been trying to contact them for 619 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,880 Speaker 5: the past week. The day after the Lend of Franklin shooting, 620 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 5: the police in Rockville, Maryland got a phone call from 621 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,680 Speaker 5: the snipers. Good point, what are the people that are 622 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:03,839 Speaker 5: causing the killing of your ear? 623 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,719 Speaker 3: The terrified, it said, call me God, do not release the. 624 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 5: Press next time on Monster DC sniper. 625 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 11: The first time that this area so far south has 626 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,279 Speaker 11: been brought into what seems to be another case of 627 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 11: a serial sniper attack. 628 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 15: When I arrived, our victim was laying in the parking 629 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,600 Speaker 15: lot and his wife was sitting on the sidewalk and 630 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 15: had her husband's head and her lap. 631 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 12: To the rear of where the showcasing was found, there 632 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 12: was some type of message that was attached to a tree. 633 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,759 Speaker 1: Do not release to the press five red stars. 634 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:44,480 Speaker 11: You have our turns. 635 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,040 Speaker 1: They are non negotiable. 636 00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 8: No self respecting terrorists is going to do that. Number one, 637 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:52,880 Speaker 8: number two We finally get a demand. 638 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 20: At that point the Sniper Task Force took this information 639 00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:59,279 Speaker 20: and followed it up, and the pieces began to fall 640 00:37:59,320 --> 00:37:59,880 Speaker 20: into Place. 641 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,520 Speaker 1: Monster d C Sniper is a fifteen episode podcast hosted 642 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,359 Speaker 1: by Tony Harris and produced by iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. 643 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:17,400 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick and Alex Williams are executive producers on behalf 644 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:22,359 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio, alongside producers Trevor Young, ben Keebrick, and Josh Thain. 645 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,480 Speaker 1: Payne Lindsay and Donald Albright are executive producers on behalf 646 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: of Tenderfoot TV alongside producers Meredith Stedman and Christina Dana. 647 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: Original music is by Makeup and Vanity Set. If you 648 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,800 Speaker 1: haven't already, be sure to check out the first two seasons, 649 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:42,640 Speaker 1: Atlanta Monster and Monster the Zodiac Killer. If you have 650 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:47,800 Speaker 1: questions or comments, email us at Monster at iHeartMedia dot com, 651 00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:50,439 Speaker 1: or you can call us at one eight three, three, 652 00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 1: two eight five six six sixty seven. Thanks for listening.