WEBVTT - The Death Card [3] 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.560 Welcome to Monster DC Sniper, a production of iHeartRadio and 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:08.400 Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.080 are solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.160 in the podcast, and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:19.960 Tenderfoot TV, or their employees. Listener discretion is advised. 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:27.680 Monday, October seventh, two thousand and two. It's now day 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.400 six of the Sniper investigation. After two whole days with 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:35.880 no shootings, the area seemed calm, but that feeling didn't 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:36.600 last long. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.640 It happened very early in the morning, well before the 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.400 buses or any classes began. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.960 This is Karen Pumphrey, a former teacher at Tasker Middle School. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.520 I was on a landing and I heard someone kick 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.040 the front door with such ferocity. I thought somebody was 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.040 out there playing early unsupervised. And I heard all this yelling, 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:58.800 so I was not real happy about it, and I 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:03.040 expected to see some kids out front, and I didn't. 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.440 It was only one boy, iron and he was about 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:13.160 twenty feet down near the drive. He was alone, nobody else, 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.000 and he was yelling and he was holding his stomach. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:19.680 So I walked over and I asked him, what's the matter, 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:21.480 and he said I've been shot. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:23.760 But I knew he was in pain. It was clear, 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:27.800 but I really didn't think it was shot. So I 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:29.720 was like, we're gonna get you some help. I went in. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:32.960 I said, Iron is hurt. He says he's been shot. 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:35.319 So they called nine one one. 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:37.759 Oh hello, this is banking the cats in middle school, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.440 we had a child outside that says he's spot. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.280 And the principal got up and when we came out, 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:46.280 he wasn't out front anymore, only as backack was there, 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.080 and this silver car was pulling away from the curb. 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:52.920 We didn't know what was wrong with him, and we 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:54.600 didn't know who was in the car. 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.440 So one of the counselors came running up, jumped in 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:01.000 his car and followed. 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.520 There is a ruthless person on the loose. 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.160 What unnerves this community the most is the randomness of 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.080 the murders, ordinary people doing ordinary things. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:15.960 They killed the five people in one day and then 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.600 went on the rampage for the next month. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:19.960 It is quite a mystery. 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.600 The police say they have never had a crime quite 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:23.040 like this. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.160 Be careful, these guys are using weapons that are going 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.680 to go right straight through our bulletproof. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:29.519 Vest White. 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:37.320 From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. This is Monster DC Sniper. 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.280 Thirteen year old Iron Brown arrived at Tasker Middle School 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.080 at about seven thirty am on October seventh. It seemed 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.880 to be a completely normal Monday morning, except, of course, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.360 a sniper was on the loose in the DC area, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.200 and on this morning, Iron Brown became the sniper, his 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:04.239 eighth victim. But before school officials could get help to him, 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.280 Iron Brown disappeared. John Lloyd was the principal at Tasker 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:11.160 Middle School. He explained what was happening to a nine 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:12.080 one one dispatcher. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.360 How were you the principals to school. 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.280 Did somebody's drive off with him here? 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:20.120 I don't know where. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:21.080 I had no idea. 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.120 It turns out, you know, his aunt had dropped him 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:27.639 off and then went to pull away. It must have 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.960 occurred immediately because she hadn't gotten out of the parking 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:31.440 lot yet. 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.880 And then it turns out she did hear the shot, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.600 so she came back. But we didn't know that. We 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.440 didn't know who was taking him. 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:45.080 My first, Oh my god, I think I'm going to 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.640 be able to drive wind Nasty to the hospital. 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:50.280 What's the matter with him? He just got shot. 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:52.920 He is gonna die. 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:58.280 Iron Brown's aunt, Tanya Brown, actually called nine one one 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:00.000 as she rushed him to the hospital. 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.840 So are you okay? 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.480 Tanya was trapped in the morning rush hour traffic and 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:10.680 Iron was bleeding out in her car. 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:15.240 I gotta go. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:20.240 Let me go, mis Brown, this Brown, I need you. 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:22.800 But I'm almost there. 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:24.440 I'm getting ready to turn in right now. 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.760 He didn't see who shot if he doesn't know, I. 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.000 Didn't see anybody, and he didn't see anybody. 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:32.240 No, okay, go ahead and go in the yarm. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:33.920 We're gonna send user out, Okay. 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:34.880 Okay, all right. 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.680 You know, we knew within ten minutes fifteen minutes that 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.920 he was shot, that his injuries were extensive, and that 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.240 he was going to be met of back to Children's 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.520 And then at that point, you know, the buses were 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:55.760 starting to show up, the onslaught of media and police 0:04:55.880 --> 0:05:01.320 presence was just crazy or helicopters in the air from 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:06.479 every Newton's agency, the FBI was on safe and then 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:10.040 of course, immediately, like within minutes, parents start calling I'm 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:12.680 coming to get my kids. We had at the time 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.240 maybe thirteen hundred kids, and by the end of the 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:17.520 day we had twenty three left. 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:24.360 I really understand that parents are concerned, but I think 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:28.640 under the circumstances, the safest place for the children right 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:33.039 now is inside of that building. We're adults, so we're 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.080 not going to dismiss school. We're going to keep school 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:39.440 in session, and we are going to secure students within buildings. 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.760 I'm almost positive they said do not come to the school. 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:45.680 But I did make it to the school. So there's 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.040 hundreds of other parents. It's very difficult to tell a 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:50.640 parent I had to come to the school when your 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:55.120 job could have been in danger. My name is Jerald Caverer. 0:05:55.480 --> 0:06:00.200 I live in Brandywine, Maryland. I woke up that more it. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.960 I spoke to my wife and my kids, and from 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.960 my understanding, she was going to take him to school. 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.840 My son was attending Taska Middle School, so of course 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.960 she's doing normal kids. Goodbye, I have a good day, behave. 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.160 As I was leaving, oh my side, a bunch of 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.680 police cars and amulans and fire trucks over by the school, 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.120 and I thought about stopping over there, but then I said, 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.040 now let me get out of here. It's too much trafficking. 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.120 So I get on abut fifty and I hear on 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.159 the radio that's breaking news a boy had been shot 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:38.080 at Benjamin Taska Middle School. So from that point I'm 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.720 driving fast down Route fifty to the school and calling 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:45.680 my wife to find out what's going on. Is she 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:49.159 taking to school? And say, okay, she's not answering the phone. 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.920 I went to the school. It was chaotic. There were 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:58.560 children everywhere that the parents everywhere that were police, five personnel, ambulance, emtens, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.640 unbelievable singing, and I'm walking through the parking lot. There 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.920 was a lot of kindents greeting their children in tears 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:09.560 of joy that it wasn't their child that was shot. 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:13.679 And I'm scanning the scanning. I finally located my son, 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.440 who broke down in tears and it was a big 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.920 release to know that he was okay. At the same time, 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.760 it was sad. My son actually took a classes too 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.160 with the young man who was shot. Very emotional day. 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.680 I mean, just to know that mostarn could have been 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:33.800 a target. It's a scary fellow. 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:38.960 Imagine learning that someone had been shot at your child's school. 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.240 As a parent, there's no bigger fear than finding out 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:46.120 it was your child who was injured, but while adults 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.160 were coming to pick up their children, Iron Brown was 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:50.160 rushed into surgery. 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:59.280 The youngster came into the hospital and he had already 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:04.280 bled a significant amount, was already getting transfusions, so he 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:07.680 was not in good shape. My name is Martin Eichelberger. 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:11.840 I am a pediatric surgeon at Children's National Medical Center. 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:16.240 During the day, early morning, I happened to be called 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.480 by our communications center said, look, you better look at 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:21.720 the TV here because of the fact that there was 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.680 some youngster that has just been shot. That was enough 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.160 to know that we were going to have to operate 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:30.760 on this youngster within what's called the golden hour. Your 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.160 chances of survival from any kind of injury is much 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.560 greater if you can get curtical care within the first hour. 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.320 So we started to get our team ready. What we 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.199 did learn was that he had been taken to one 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:46.400 of the urgent care centers that was close to this 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:50.280 middle school. They did a terrific job over there of 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.400 resuscitating this youngster by making sure he had an IV 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:55.720 They put a tube in his chest because he had 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.760 been shot in his left chest. Took probably a half 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:03.240 hour from the time he was shot to the time 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.719 he got to us. During the operation, there are a 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.280 lot of different steps that were involved. He had a 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.360 gunshot wound just underneath his zyphoid and it went through 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.319 the rib and ended up if you can think of 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.800 a trajectory up towards his scapula, the tip of his scapula, 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.240 which is a little bit on the lower side. And 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:27.560 he had an injury that basically hit several organs in 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:32.160 the abdomen and also his diaphragm and his lung. And 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.320 it took a while to make sure that all of 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:40.520 these organs were properly dealt with as we were going along, 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.160 and it was an hour and a half two hour operation. 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:47.520 He got stabilized to he stopped bleeding. We were able 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.960 to treat his lung without having to take any of 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:55.400 the lung out. A couple of the organs similarly were 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.960 partially had to be removed, but in general he tolerated 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:03.000 very very well. He's lucky because the bullet, you know, 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.200 if the angle had been just a little bit more 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.040 towards the middle, it would have hit his heart. You know, 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.679 there's nothing really we probably would have been able to do. 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.520 So even though we have a great team not all 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.800 patients survive, and so we were happy just to have 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:24.080 him stable. And during that time there was an effort 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.920 by the enforcement community to try to retrieve the bullet. 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.040 Doctor Eichelberger's colleague, Kurt Newman was in charge of communicating 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:34.079 with the police. 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.160 And so doctor Newman came to me and said, this 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.520 is what they want to try to get the bullet. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.679 Would it be easy to do? And I looked at 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.079 the X ray and put my finger down where I 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.560 thought the bullet was, and yes, I could palpit it 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.080 with my finger. I was able to pull out this bullet. 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:56.160 I gave it specifically to doctor Newman, who gave it 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:59.439 to a specific person to make sure that that chain 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.400 of evidence was keptain tact. 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.680 When we were contacted about what had happened, and of 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.320 course we all sat and shocked. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.600 We just couldn't believe, and we kept asking, are you sure? 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:23.520 Are you sure? My name is doctor Wayne R. Curtis's 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.679 cousin to the Brown family. 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:32.760 We're obviously very scared and anxious about what was going 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.839 to happen with him having gotten shot like that at 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:37.080 such a young age. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.760 And that he would come out of it okay. 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.840 But it's time told he's doing okay, but at that 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.120 time we were just all just concerned. 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:46.880 For his life. 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:52.320 We went to the hospital with my sons to visit 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:52.959 with him. 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.240 At that point in time, there was a request to 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:57.440 meet with the press. 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:02.080 National media wanted Iron Brown's parents to provide a statement, 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:05.320 but Curtis has the parents were still processing their shock. 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:09.199 So as we came out the back of the hospital 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:12.760 to approach the press corps, you can imagine if you're 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:14.960 not in front of something like that before and you've 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.080 got I mean god, it must have been fifty people 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.160 with cameras and asking questions and it can be unnerving. 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:23.719 As we were walking up the hallway, I don't think 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:27.000 we got more than five steps onto the sidewalk after 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.520 the building and just said, look, we can't do this. 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:32.880 You should do this, and I said, okay, I'll do it. 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.120 He continues to remain in critical but stable condition. He's 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:41.320 a fighter. We remain optimistic, as our doctors have told us, 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.439 this is a marathon, not a sprint, but we are 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.600 confident that we will make it to the finish line. 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:53.920 Do you think about the magnitude of a child, any 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:56.640 person getting shot, but you know when children get shot, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.600 It sort of magnifies it even more. 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.640 Had psychological issues from a current. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:08.920 The family as much as possible, they try to normalize 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:17.240 his life and their lives of a very, very unfortunate tragedy. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:22.160 Iron Brown was alive and safe, but back at Tasker 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.080 Middle School, authorities were still trying to make sense of 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.920 the attack. What kind of person would shoot a thirteen 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:32.520 year old? Soon police would get a major clue, a 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:49.400 communication from the snipers. The shooting at Tasker Middle School 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.400 sent the region into a frenzy. It was now clear 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.040 that the sniper attacks were not over, and now the 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:02.280 discussions about who was behind the attacks can once again. 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:07.040 The question came up, is this foreign terrorism? Many in 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.600 the DC area certainly thought so. On the day Iron 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:15.320 Brown was shot, wamu's Kojo Nandi show field that live 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:16.400 calls about the shooting. 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.880 I'm concerned about my kids safety because I think this 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.040 shooter or shooters is trying to make a statement that 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.200 I can shoot Americans anytime, any place, anywhere I want to, 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:30.960 and they're doing it around the nation's capital to make 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:31.560 a statement. 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.160 I was calling an agreement with your past caller mentioning 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.760 some ties between the shootings and terrorism, and I just 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:44.160 see this as being completely related to the timing of 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.000 what's going on today in our country. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.760 And the media had helped fuel that fear. All over 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:55.160 cable news TV stations were speculating that this was quite 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:57.360 possibly an act of terror. 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.160 He is orchestrating this whole event really to spread fear, 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.840 to spread terror, because he wants to be in charge, 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:09.200 and he is executing people just to show his power. 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:16.239 It became pretty clear to people that these random shootings 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:20.240 across DC and around DC were linked. 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.160 This is journalists and historian Garret Graff. He says, it 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:28.200 made sense that people thought foreign terrorists were responsible for 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:29.160 the sniper attacks. 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.920 There was a very quick realization that this could be 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:38.680 the next stage of a terror campaign. You had people 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:44.440 begin to call in suspicious activity reports all over the city. 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.240 This was, in some ways, maybe exactly the second wave 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:52.080 that we had been led to fear was coming ever 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.760 since the nine to eleven attacks. In some ways, the 0:15:55.880 --> 0:16:00.920 idea that these sniper killings would be somehow linked to 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:05.320 Al Qaeda seemed a very logical theory at the time. 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:11.680 The idea that here you had a terrorist really aiming 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:17.480 to undermine Americans just going about their daily lives, you know, 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:21.560 making it impossible to do the things that hundreds of 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.720 millions of Americans literally had to do every day, Go 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:29.080 buy groceries, fill up your car with gas, a drive 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:35.120 to work. The attacks on these commuters, these workers, these 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:40.040 families around DC, in some ways seemed a very logical 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:45.120 next stage of Al Qaeda targeting the homeland and really 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:51.359 threatened to make ordinary daily life in America insecure. 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.480 While the country was debating who was behind these attacks, 0:16:56.080 --> 0:17:00.520 investigators were working to find the sniper. Following the shooting 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.320 of Iron Brown, police shut down the area surrounding Tasker 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:13.000 Middle School. They began searching looking for any clues. Benjamin 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.399 Tasker Middle School, where Iron Brown was shot, is around 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.120 twenty miles east of Washington, d C. And about seventy 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:25.359 five miles northeast of where the last shooting occurred in Spotsylvania, Virginia. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.359 Was there something special about this school that drew the 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.640 snipers this far out? I went to see for myself, 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.480 and as we pulled up, I noticed the school was 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.879 right next to a highway Route fifty and it was 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:43.000 surrounded by thick wooded areas. Maybe this was the ideal 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.840 spot to hide with a quick getaway nearby. It was 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.920 in these woods that authorities searched for evidence after the shooting. 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.600 I asked one of the investigators to meet me here 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:54.800 and walked me through what happened on the morning of 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:55.639 October seventh. 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.320 My name is Mike Pyle with the United States Marshall Service. 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.760 Over see our canine operations program, and back in two 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.760 thousand and two, my partner was Explosive Detection K nine 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.600 Beacon and he was trained for explosives and weapons detection. 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:14.280 I'm curious as to the jurisdictional lines here. Right, a 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.240 number of agencies are here. Tell me why the US 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.960 Martial Service is called in so it's about resources. 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.160 We're not coming in here to obviously lead the investigation. 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:29.720 This is PG County, so obviously PG County Police Department, 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.359 this is their scene. But there's not a lot of 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.320 dogs back then that were trained specifically to find guns 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.439 and shellcasings. They had bomb dogs, but some of the 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:42.240 bomb dogs are not trained to that level of evidence recovery. 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:47.920 ATL trained dogs literally are sniffing explosives, probably multiple times 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:49.520 a day because we have to feed them. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:53.639 To train dogs like beacon and maintain their sensitivity to 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.680 certain odors. The dogs are only fed when they detect 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:57.680 the odors correctly. 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:01.159 It's classical conditioning. When the dogs come in order, beacon 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.960 would start salivating because it's Pavlov's theory, you know, the 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.159 bell rings he anticipates in the food coming in, so 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:11.080 they automatically salivate. So those are the changes that we 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:11.640 look for. 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:13.160 So if the dog says, hey, I. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:15.080 Give you the indication that the contract is, you have 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:16.960 kay me that the payment. 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:17.200 Is the food. 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.440 So Michael, take me back to the day. 0:19:20.560 --> 0:19:21.600 How does that day start for you? 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.600 On October seventh, two thousand and two. By the time 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.080 I got here, it was a pretty chaotic scene. They 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:30.840 had the streets blocked off, a lot of law enforcement, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:34.240 a lot of onlookers, a lot of media. The one 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.840 thing that really struck to me was actually where we're 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.480 standing right now was Iron Brown's backpack. You could see 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.199 definitely to see a little bit of a pool of 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.120 blood that was still left there. Someone said that they 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:49.480 saw somebody or heard a gunshot on the front of 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:50.920 the school up on that hill, so. 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:52.960 That would be across the street from the cross. 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.439 The street, and of course that white box truck. They 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.240 said that they saw white box truck. 0:19:57.720 --> 0:19:58.760 That up in the hill. 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.199 To hear kind of did makes sense to us. You 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:03.840 would have to literally bend a bullet if that was 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.280 how the shot was taking. Well, if you were to 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.040 do the shooting, where would you put yourself? The obvious 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.879 place was probably right in the woods. So from the 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:14.480 front of the building the right side, if you walk 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.639 out of the school on the right side, there's a 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:18.560 little bit of a wooded area and then it goes 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.879 to a park. So I selected my search area and 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.720 actually started to search. We started in searching. We get 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:31.439 to about midway in maybe seven to ten feet out 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.680 to the woodline, and there was a tree and there 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:39.920 was a huge branch that was falling down. He stopped 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:44.160 and he searched the branch that was underground. And honestly, 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:46.840 I actually wasn't paying attention to at that point because 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.240 I was actually watching my step. So I had turned 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:52.639 my head to look at where I'm gonna put my foot. 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.400 Next I heard the PG County officer said, hey, look 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:59.879 at your dog. So I turned around. He started to 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.440 racket racket, meaning he's in order, but he wants to 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.280 get to where the most of the orders coming from 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:08.800 left to right, left to right, left to right. Boom, 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:11.080 he sniffs and he sits and a big drool comes out. 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:16.000 So once that occurred, we stopped PG County officer, the 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:17.520 PG County officer, the SWAT officer. 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:19.760 Well, the officers went out, got some of. 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.720 The evidence technicians to come in, and they all start 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:26.600 to actually literally search this area. And then I was 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.240 told that the shewcasing was located. If you step back 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.199 five ten feet, unless you really look, you're not going 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.240 to see somebody hiding there. So if you kind of 0:21:36.280 --> 0:21:39.760 actually look, it's a perfect line of sight. So I 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:42.840 fully believe that he may have laid that rifle right 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.080 on that piece of word, took the shot. The shellcasing 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.320 comes out, and it's that area where they located the shellcasing, 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.680 and with that they've worked their way backwards and that's 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:54.320 where they find the terror card. 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.479 A tarot card, one from a special deck of cards 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:10.320 that some say can predict the future. And the shooters 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:14.200 didn't just leave any card. They left the death card 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:18.000 on It was a skeletal night, riding a white horse 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.359 and holding a black flag. This image is said to 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:25.600 show that no one escapes death, whether rich or poor, 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:29.720 young or old. The card seemed to perfectly capture the 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:34.679 sniper's mo o. No one is safe, everyone is vulnerable. 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:38.159 But the more disturbing aspect was what was written on 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:42.679 the card. For you, mister police, call me God. Do 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:44.440 not release to the press. 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:46.440 Now they've got a God complex. 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:52.000 This is retired Maryland State Police Lieutenant David Reichenbach. 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.920 So at least we're starting to get a picture of 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.879 what we're dealing with here that card. 0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:01.640 At that time, I'd didn't even know about it, and I. 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.440 Was a commander in charge of the criminal intelligence part 0:23:04.480 --> 0:23:07.240 of it. That was kept very very close to the vest, 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.040 and for good reason, we didn't want that to get 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:15.520 out there, but unfortunately it did. You know, the following day, 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:19.560 which was Tuesday, October eighth, WUSA Channel nine breaks the 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:23.080 story about the tarot card, and for us, that was 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:23.920 a punch in the gut. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.080 More about that calling card. It was left at the 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:29.919