1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Monster DC Sniper, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,639 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast 3 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: are solely those of the podcast author or individuals participating 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: in the podcast, and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV, or their employees. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 2: It was quite a warm morning. 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 3: I drove my son to school with some other children. 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 3: I dropped them off around eight o'clock and my two 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 3: year old was still in the car, so he was in. 10 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 2: A car seat. We were listening to children's music in 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 2: the car on the radio. 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 3: I went to the gas station and I stopped to 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,919 Speaker 3: pump gas. My name's dot Caroline Namo. I'm a pediatrician. 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 3: I live in Silver Spring and Maryland. It was a 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 3: lovely day. It was very warm, so I opened the windows. 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 3: So as I rolled the windows down a bit, I 17 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 3: turned and I looked to the right, and. 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: There was a taxi and there was a gentleman who 19 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 2: was filling his car with gas. 20 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 3: But I thought it was unusual because he was filling 21 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 3: the tank from underneath the license plate. 22 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 2: Which I had never seen before. 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 3: I looked at him for a few seconds and he 24 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 3: looked up at me and we made eye contacts. 25 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:24,639 Speaker 2: I smile. 26 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 3: I reached to get my purse to take out my 27 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 3: credit card, and I heard a bang, and immediately in 28 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 3: my head I thought there was a gunshot. But at 29 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 3: the same time, I thought, no, why would there be 30 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 3: a gunshot. It must be some sort of electrical problem, 31 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 3: maybe with the car, and he was doing something weird 32 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 3: and he shouldn't have been filling it from under the 33 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 3: license plate, how strange. 34 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 2: I looked up and he was walking towards my car. 35 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 3: It was just a few paces and he looked in 36 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 3: the passenger side and he said, call an ambulance, and 37 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 3: he collapsed and I was shaking, so I immediately grabbed 38 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 3: my phone, got out of the car and call nine 39 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 3: one one, and I was totally in shock. 40 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 4: By an ambula. 41 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 5: I don't know. 42 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 6: I don't think America has ever gone back to the 43 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 6: way that it was before nine to eleven in the 44 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 6: Anthrax attacks and the DC sniper. My name is Garrett Graff, 45 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,840 Speaker 6: and I'm a journalist and historian. It's really amazing looking 46 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 6: back to the nineteen nineties today, really just how much 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 6: simpler the issues on the table were. 48 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 7: Governments, utilities, and companies all over the world are checking 49 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 7: their computer systems to prevent a Why two came. 50 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 6: Outdown Much of the country was really consumed by the 51 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 6: impeachment of President Clinton in nineteen ninety eight. Actually, President 52 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 6: Clinton was criticized for trying to distract from his impeachment 53 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 6: troubles by attacking the training camps of al Qaeda. These 54 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 6: were threats that the US was not focused that much on. 55 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 6: As a country, the government, the National security apparatus was 56 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 6: beginning to pay more attention to it. 57 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 8: We must remember it is the obligation of America to 58 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 8: help make the world more peaceful. As far as I'm concerned, 59 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 8: it's an obligation of a commander in chief as well 60 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 8: to understand, in order to keep the peace, we must 61 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:49,279 Speaker 8: rebuild the military power of the United States of America. 62 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 6: The two thousand election at the time seemed incredibly vicious 63 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 6: and partisan, and ultimately it was a vote of the 64 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 6: Supreme Court that declared effectively George W. Bush the winner 65 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 6: of Florida and thus the winner of the presidency. In 66 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 6: many ways, Americans were beginning to lose trust in institutions 67 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 6: as they were hit by various scandals and then of course, 68 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 6: we didn't know either what came next. 69 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 9: Apparently a plane has just crashed into the World Trade 70 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 9: Center here in New York City. It happened just a 71 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 9: few moments ago. Apparently we have very little information available. 72 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 6: There weren't very many people who defaulted that morning to 73 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 6: thinking it was terrorism at first, And I think one 74 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,280 Speaker 6: of the most remarkable things that you see on the 75 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 6: morning of nine to eleven is just how innocent America 76 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 6: truly was. President Bush continued with his morning reading to 77 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 6: school children. Congress prepared to open for business that day 78 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 6: after the first attacks, and even in New York City, 79 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 6: you know, you saw people just continue their commune, thinking 80 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 6: that they were going on to a relatively normal day 81 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 6: at work. 82 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 10: I heard of throwing worked up and there was a 83 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 10: big qualifire. You could hear the fire engines and the. 84 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 2: Emergency crews behind me. 85 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 11: I've never seen. 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 7: Any fire light in the air, and pieces of the 87 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 7: building were flying down in tense smoke. 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 10: It's horrible. I can't even describe it. 89 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 6: As the morning of nine to eleven unfolded, it quickly 90 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 6: became clear that this was a terrorist attack on not 91 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 6: just New York City, but the wider country. 92 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 12: This airplane that ran into the Pentagon. 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,239 Speaker 13: It happened within the hour. 94 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 12: The plane sliced through the building, it. 95 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 4: Came in and hit actually at about the first and 96 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 4: second floors. 97 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 6: We really didn't know how wide the attack actually would go, 98 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 6: you know. Skyscrapers were evacuated in Boston, in Chicago and 99 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 6: Los Angeles and other cities across the country as people 100 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 6: feared that there could be more planes still in the sky. 101 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 6: The fear was really that there would be a second 102 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 6: wave of attacks. That sense of fear was certainly driven 103 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 6: by the accelerating media culture as well. 104 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 14: There are thousands of these terrorists in more than sixty countries. 105 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 14: They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and 106 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 14: brought to camps in places like Afghanistan where they are 107 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 14: trained in the tactics of terror. 108 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 6: Unrelenting coverage contributed to this pervasive fear about whether we 109 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:34,720 Speaker 6: were safe living our daily lives. There was the expectation 110 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 6: really that DC would be attacked again by Al Qaeda, 111 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 6: by a car bomb, by more planes. There was a 112 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 6: real fear about whether this was the day that the 113 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 6: next shoe dropped. 114 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 13: In the wake of nine to eleven, all of us 115 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 13: living in the DC area were terrified, and we were 116 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 13: all just waiting for the next horrific act of terror. 117 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 13: I'm Tony Harris. In the fall of two thousand and two, 118 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 13: I was working as a news anchor for Fox forty 119 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 13: five in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. On the morning 120 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 13: of October third, reports began flooding our newsroom about random 121 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 13: shootings in Montgomery County, Maryland. 122 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,239 Speaker 15: We do have five fatal shootings for no apparent reason, 123 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 15: no robbery motive or anything like that. People who are 124 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 15: just sort of out and about doing their normal task. 125 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 11: You know, you think you're out here safe, and here's 126 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 11: this woman coming out of this apparently the post office. 127 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 16: And was just shot. 128 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 13: The people of Maryland look through their televisions to journalists 129 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 13: like me for answers, but we didn't have them. 130 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 15: It is quite a mystery. 131 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 13: The police say they have never. 132 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 15: Had a crime quite like this in Montgomery County before. 133 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 15: They are huddling together. They are trying now to figure 134 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 15: out what's going on. 135 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 13: And that terrible day was only the beginning. What emerged 136 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 13: over the following weeks was one of the most disturbing 137 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 13: crime sprees in the history of our country. But now 138 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 13: eighteen years later, the Supreme Court will rule on the 139 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 13: sniper's case, and the convicted killer could one day walk free. 140 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 13: On this season of Monster, We're going to investigate the 141 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 13: full DC sniper story because I want to find the 142 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 13: answers to questions that have haunted me all these years. 143 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 13: What was the killer's motive? And should they ever be 144 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 13: given a second chance to fully understand, We have to 145 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 13: go back to October second, two thousand and two, an 146 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 13: average Wednesday and suburban Maryland. 147 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 17: October second, two thousand and two was an unusually warm 148 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 17: day for DC. I was working in the evening shift. 149 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 17: You handle the routine calls. There several of us working. 150 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 17: Everybody worked in a cubicle, nothing special really going on. 151 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 17: It was in the early evening. The phone rang, and 152 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 17: we don't have a secretary at night. So whoever picks 153 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 17: up the phone, whatever's on the other end of it, 154 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 17: you get it. 155 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 13: This is Patrick McNerney, a former homicite detective with Montgomery 156 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 13: County Police in Maryland. 157 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 17: Was told by our communications center there had been a 158 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 17: shooting murder, or as we call it, an one hundred 159 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 17: in the Wheaton Glenmont District in the Shopper Sued Warehouse 160 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 17: parking lot. So we're running lights and sirn over to 161 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 17: the scene and took about fifteen minutes to get there. 162 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 17: Were presented with a very large crowd in front of 163 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 17: the Shopper Sued Warehouse. 164 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 13: McNerney took charge of the crime scene. He locked the 165 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 13: area down, began interviewing witnesses and tried to figure out 166 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 13: what just happened. 167 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 17: This could have and a robbery or somebody walked up 168 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 17: to this guy and shot him. And then we still 169 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,679 Speaker 17: had to deal with why did it sound like a 170 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 17: cannon going off? That was a report from the first 171 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 17: officer who was actually sitting right across the street when 172 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 17: the shooting took place. 173 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,679 Speaker 10: The sound I heard wasn't really to immediately recognized bile 174 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,839 Speaker 10: as a gunshot. It was just this enormously loud percussion. 175 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 10: I'm Alan Felson. At the time, I was working for 176 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 10: the Montgomery County Police Department. I was a bicycle patrol 177 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 10: officer assigned to the Wheaton District. The police station is 178 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 10: directly across the street from the Shopper's Food warehouse we 179 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 10: were standing today, so that's where I was then. 180 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 13: Felson was the first officer on the scene. He heard 181 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 13: the shot and responded immediately, but it was already too late. 182 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 13: The killer got away. How could a shooter pull this 183 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 13: off in broad daylight, right next to a police station. 184 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 13: I asked Felsen to meet me here and explain what 185 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 13: he saw that day. So you're sitting there in your 186 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 13: cruiser at that point, describe what happens and what you hear. 187 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 10: There's a business right next door here called Country Board 188 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 10: that's been here forever. They use forklifts and pallettes. They 189 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 10: sell mulch and garden supplies, and I mean I almost 190 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 10: thought that one of their eighteen wheelers had been knocked 191 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 10: over something. It was this enormously loud percussion. So I 192 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 10: did not immediately go, wow, that sounds like a rifle. 193 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 10: It was just this really loud thunderclap kind of sound, 194 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 10: so obviously drew everyone's attention in the police station. People 195 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 10: heard it inside, because that's only, you know, one hundred 196 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 10: hundred and fifty yards away. They came to the door and looked. 197 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 13: Out it was that lamp. 198 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 10: Yes, because I was directly across from the shoppishoot warehouse, 199 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 10: I think I already saw that. The people in front 200 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 10: of the store, were looking straight at the parking lot. 201 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 10: From the store, I pulled out, flipped on the emergency 202 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 10: lights on the car. It was probably less than a 203 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 10: minute that it took me, you know, to drive there. 204 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 10: But as soon as I pulled in, I can see 205 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:13,560 Speaker 10: that there's a man laying face down in the parking lot. 206 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 10: So I pulled in and I just yelled that the 207 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 10: people are staying there, did anyone see anything? And I 208 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,959 Speaker 10: just got kind of no reaction. Everyone was still just staring, 209 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 10: I think. I then yelled to them, if you heard 210 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 10: the shots, stay here, or if you saw anything, stay here, 211 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 10: and then drove my car up the aisle closer to where. 212 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 18: The victim was. 213 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 10: So there's a light pole here, and the victim was 214 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 10: on the pavement. He had blood on his chest and 215 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 10: around his mouth. He had no pulse and wasn't breathing. 216 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 10: I didn't expose the woond right away as he was 217 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 10: in his chest. I saw the blood by his mouth, 218 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 10: and I just went straight into CPR And by then 219 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 10: other people are showing up because we are only about 220 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 10: a you know, one hundred yards from the police station, 221 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 10: and everything kind of happens in a blur at that point, 222 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 10: if I knew that night what we knew thirty six 223 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 10: hours later, I would have probably positioned my car better 224 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,080 Speaker 10: because I basically went right in the line of fire. 225 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 10: They could have shot me and still gotten away. Again, 226 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 10: at this point, we didn't know it was rifle. That 227 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,559 Speaker 10: realization only came when I went in with one of 228 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 10: the homicide detectives to the Shoppers food warehouse and we 229 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 10: reviewed their security footage. 230 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 17: There's no audio on this surveillance, so we're just watching 231 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 17: the quiet play of it. 232 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 13: This is Patrick McNerney again, the Montgomery County homicide detective 233 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 13: in charge of the crime scene. McNerney watched the victim's 234 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 13: last moments caught by the security camera. 235 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 17: And reviewing of the tape was he pulled into the 236 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 17: parking lot in his truck, parked in a parking space, 237 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 17: probably twenty spaces away from the store, gets out, walks, 238 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 17: he takes five or six steps, and then he goes 239 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 17: down and we see, you know, there's nobody standing near him. 240 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:06,000 Speaker 17: All right, So now we have to train our thinking. 241 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,959 Speaker 17: It's not a walk up and shoot. We're looking at 242 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,440 Speaker 17: a long range shot. Let's see if we can find 243 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 17: a projectile which is truly the needle in the haystack 244 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 17: at this point with all the residual trash, loose pebbles, 245 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 17: stuff like that in the parking lot. Now we're even 246 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 17: more concerned about cars riding through stuff getting caught into 247 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 17: the treads because we don't want to miss anything. Fire 248 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 17: rescue had already come in and determined that this person 249 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 17: was deceased on the scene. A lot of people didn't 250 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 17: see anything, but two or three people who were right there, 251 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 17: right kind of close to where this person was shot. 252 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 17: They were just walking and they heard the cannon and 253 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 17: they saw this guy drop. They just went to hiding 254 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 17: their cars. They had no idea what was going on. 255 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 17: They quickly detected who was a shooting, saw this guy 256 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 17: get down, and now they're scared for their life. My 257 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 17: job is to to stop time as much as possible. 258 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 17: Let's go back step by step on what happened. Where 259 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 17: did this guy come from? Did somebody follow him in here? 260 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 17: Was he having any issues with anybody? Did anybody hear 261 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 17: any arguing, car horns beeping? Any reason why this event 262 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 17: would have taken place. We found out that James Martin 263 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 17: worked in downtown Silver Spring. Nice enough guy. People at 264 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 17: work liked him. He's very quiet one son. He didn't 265 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 17: live too far from where the store was. I believe 266 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 17: it was his first time going to that store and 267 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 17: he was just going to pick up some stuff for 268 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 17: dinner on his way home. 269 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 16: Jim was a really hard worker. He worked all through 270 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 16: high school at a general store, and everyone loved him. 271 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 16: He always believed in fairness. He always believed in things 272 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 16: being done kindly and justly. That's the kind of person 273 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 16: he was. He was wonderful brother. He was just a 274 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 16: terrific uncle to my kids. 275 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 13: Ola Martin Cooksley is James Martin's sister. She calls him Jim. 276 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 13: The two of them grew up together in Missouri. They 277 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 13: stayed close even after Jim moved to the DC area 278 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 13: for work. It was late on October second when she 279 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 13: got word of Jim's death. 280 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 16: I was almost asleep that night. I had gone to 281 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 16: bed and I was alone, and I had just begun 282 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 16: to drift off when the phone rang. It was my 283 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 16: sister in law and she said that Jim is dead. 284 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 16: I said, did you have a heart attack, you know, 285 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 16: because our dad had passed away with a heart attack, 286 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 16: and she said, no, he's been shot. And nobody says 287 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 16: they saw anything, and nobody knows anything. After she told 288 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 16: me that and we hung up, I thought maybe I 289 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 16: was still sleeping. I thought I was dreaming, and I 290 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 16: spent that entire night thinking that I must be dreaming. 291 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 16: Even for the next few days, I kind of felt 292 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 16: like it was a nightmare, and I kept wishing I 293 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 16: would wake up. It just seemed too unbelievable. In a way, 294 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 16: it kind of kept bit as a buffer, because I 295 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 16: didn't just go completely bonkers the way I probably would 296 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 16: have if I hadn't thought it was a dream. I 297 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 16: kept thinking, I'm going to wake up. But I also 298 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 16: had this weird, strange feeling that something had gone horribly 299 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 16: wrong in the universe because I had just always thought 300 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 16: it Jim and I would be old people together. It 301 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 16: just seemed so unbelievable and so wrong, and it just 302 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 16: felt like something had hit the world and knocked it 303 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 16: out of line or something. 304 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 13: The death of Jane and Martin seemed utterly random, and 305 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 13: investigators weren't sure what to make of it until they 306 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 13: learned there had been another similar shooting less than an 307 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,239 Speaker 13: hour earlier at a Michael's craft store just miles up 308 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 13: the Road. 309 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 17: About forty five minutes prior to James Martin being shot. 310 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 17: If you go north on Georgia Avenue, probably two or 311 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 17: three miles, you get into an area it's called Aspen Hill, 312 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 17: about half a block off Connecticut Avenue. There's a Michael's 313 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 17: Craft Store. 314 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 7: Sunny Police offer sixteenth you do la course, Hi, this 315 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 7: is DEBI case the demander at the Michaels at Aston Hill, 316 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,120 Speaker 7: which you had somebody fire some sort of projectile through 317 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 7: the window. 318 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 4: Of the store. 319 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 13: Detective Patrick McNerney also took charge of it. 320 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 17: Was the people in the store who actually made the 321 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 17: call because they could tell it was a bullet that 322 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 17: came through the window. You're sitting there and you're just 323 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 17: proceeding normally. Then all of a sudden, bam. 324 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 18: Oh, there was a hole to our plateglass window. There 325 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,880 Speaker 18: was a loud popping sound. Whatever came through the window 326 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:23,160 Speaker 18: also went through a light here, and fortunately no one 327 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 18: was struck. 328 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 17: The shot rowed high and when it entered the glass 329 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 17: in front of the Michaels, it hit one of those 330 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 17: lane markers, you know, versus lane one, two three, hit 331 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 17: one of those and kind of disintegrated and later was 332 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 17: found in a pocket on a shelf behind that. 333 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 18: It was only one shot so far. 334 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 13: You So this is the Michaels Arts and Craft Store, 335 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 13: and this is the location of the first rifle shot. 336 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 13: They take off, they drive away, they head up the 337 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,879 Speaker 13: road two miles at the most, and that's when this 338 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 13: story takes the horrible and gruesome turn. I've got to 339 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 13: tell you, this is the most average strip mall in America, 340 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 13: and I visited a thousand of them growing up in Maryland. 341 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 13: That's what this place looks like. Non descript suburbia, that's 342 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:26,720 Speaker 13: what this is. So this is the kind of community 343 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 13: where that would have been big news, the fact that 344 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 13: someone fired a rifle shot through the window of a Michael's. 345 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 13: That would have been huge news, and one of the 346 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 13: newsrooms in either Baltimore or Washington would have been asking questions, 347 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 13: is their connection? Come on, they're less than two miles apart. 348 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 13: You've got a fatality. There's got to be a connection. 349 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 17: You could really almost assume that they're connected, and ultimately 350 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 17: they were. 351 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 13: McNerney went back to take another look at the Shopper's 352 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 13: food warehousehooting from earlier. 353 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 17: We all kind of agreed, you know, this looks like 354 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 17: a snipers a long shot. Nobody saw him. You heard it, 355 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 17: But initially, there's no reason why somebody want to shoot 356 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 17: this guy or want to shoot the other people we 357 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 17: talked to in the parking lot who were kind of 358 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 17: right there in that scope range. You know, why didn't 359 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 17: he shoot them? And why him and not to her? 360 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 17: And who knows? Our forensic team was there. I think 361 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 17: our division captain had even come by. He usually came 362 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 17: out and something was really kind of odd. 363 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 19: My name is Bernard James Forsayth. At the time of 364 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 19: this event, I was the director of the Major Crimes 365 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,400 Speaker 19: Division of the Montgomery County Police Department and my rank 366 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 19: was Captain. Now, this is six o'clock in the afternoon, 367 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 19: one of the busiest intersections of Montgomery County. It's somewhat 368 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,239 Speaker 19: unusual that you would have a shooting and nobody has 369 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 19: seen anything. I called Chief Moose, which is part of 370 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 19: our protocol, to let him know that we had had 371 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 19: a shooting down there. 372 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 13: Charles Moose was the chief of Police for Montgomery County. 373 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 13: The two shootings so far fell under his jurisdiction. 374 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 19: He asked me, he said, well, what do you think 375 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 19: it is? I said, Chief at this point, we just 376 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 19: don't really know. We just didn't know, you know, what 377 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 19: had occurred. Probably the worst case scenario was a random 378 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 19: shooting with no motive. It's very hard to connect randomness, 379 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 19: that's what it amounts to. 380 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 13: And with that, the bizarre events of Wednesday, October two 381 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 13: came to an end. But this was just the beginning. 382 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 13: The following day, on October third. 383 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 19: I think it's fair to say all hell broke loose. 384 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 18: Montgomery County. 385 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,719 Speaker 4: Oh, I guess we amias okay with the travel somebody's 386 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 4: been shot down on our back. 387 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 2: Lot, are they somebody is down on the ground. 388 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:06,959 Speaker 16: Okay? 389 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,639 Speaker 7: Did you see the person getting. 390 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 4: Out up the top of the hill and somebody yelled 391 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 4: up the calling ambulance. 392 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 14: Came where they just sat. 393 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 18: You know, yeah, we just heard the shot. 394 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 19: I just briefed the chief as to what we were 395 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 19: doing with regard to the shooting at the Shopper's food 396 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 19: warehouse the night before, when these incidents started percolating into 397 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 19: the office. 398 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 16: Yeah, I'm being down right now. 399 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 8: Okay, he's down on the ground. 400 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 4: We got a crowd of people down here. 401 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 9: Okay, can you ask of anybody's side. 402 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 19: That gun shot one of them? Had to do with 403 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 19: a lawnmower, and they were telling me that somebody was injured, 404 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 19: but they weren't sure. They thought maybe a blade had 405 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 19: flown off. 406 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 16: Well, wasn't. 407 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 8: A lawnmower blew up on? 408 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 15: This guy's bleeding real bad? 409 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 7: Okay? 410 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 18: And is he breathing? Uh? 411 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 4: Yeah, barely, He's sitting up lad and everything. 412 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 20: It was a very tense time and a very life 413 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 20: changing experience to feel that you walked away from something 414 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 20: that possibly you shouldn't have. My name is Gary Lee Huss, 415 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 20: fifty seven years old. I live in Damascus, Maryland. 416 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 13: Huss was working at the Fitzgerald Automol in Rockville, Maryland. 417 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 13: The first victim of October third was shot just outside 418 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 13: this dealership. 419 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 20: It's approximately, I want to say, right around seven point 420 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 20: thirty a normal day, driving to work, and I saw 421 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 20: my friend Sonny Buchanan. He maintained the landscaping for our 422 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 20: dealership group. 423 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 17: At that location. 424 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 20: And I saw Sonny Buchanan with the lawnmower right on 425 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 20: the curb. So I stopped my car and we spoke 426 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 20: for a few minutes, just in general conversation, and I've 427 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 20: proceeded back to my car, shut the door, and started 428 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 20: to pull away. Is when I heard a loud bang, 429 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 20: and I just thought it was a backfire from a car. 430 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 20: I never even imagined that it could be anything else. 431 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,719 Speaker 20: Went ahead and parked my car and went in and 432 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 20: started my day. As I sat at my desk, my 433 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 20: staff members arrived into my office about a man bleeding 434 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 20: on the back lot and finally went out to view 435 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,639 Speaker 20: because it was quite a crowd gathering from all of 436 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 20: our employees at the dealership at that point, I was 437 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 20: corralling my people back, not ever noticing it was my friend. 438 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 20: I didn't even relate the two together, as I just 439 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 20: saw him fifteen minutes prior standing upright and speaking with me. 440 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 20: We eventually figured it was Sonny laying there on the 441 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 20: ground and he was bleeding pretty profusely. He actually walked 442 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 20: about fifty yards before he collapsed, quite a big distance 443 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 20: uphill for the damage that was done to him that day. 444 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,360 Speaker 20: I assumed that the lawnmower disengaged in and piled him 445 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 20: in some way. I went down to inspect the lawnmower 446 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 20: to find the bag completely intact, the mower deck completely intact, 447 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 20: and then flipping the mower over, the blades were all intact, 448 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,640 Speaker 20: so that ruled out that there was any cause from 449 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 20: the lawnmower. The paramedics confirmed that it was a gunshot wound. 450 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 20: We watched the paramedics try and revive Sonny and pretty 451 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 20: much bled out on location. That day, we had somebody 452 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:55,639 Speaker 20: in the police department that was an associate and friend 453 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,120 Speaker 20: of ours telling us a little bit of information that 454 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 20: there's a gunman out there, and it seemed like every 455 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,360 Speaker 20: hour there was another shooting. I assumed that it was 456 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 20: a single gunman, but there was no method to the 457 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 20: madness of what he was doing and who he was 458 00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 20: targeting at that point. Was I the target and he missed? 459 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 20: And now I'm going to be the one that he's 460 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 20: looking at. It changed my life that day. The two 461 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 20: places you feel the safest are at home and at work, 462 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 20: and one of those areas had been taken from me. 463 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 13: James Sunny Buchanan, the first victim on October third, died 464 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 13: of his wound. Montgomery County police were as baffled by 465 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 13: this shooting as they had been the evening before, but 466 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 13: they wouldn't have much time to think about it. Half 467 00:27:48,760 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 13: an hour later, another victim would be shot at a 468 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 13: twelve am, only thirty two minutes after Sunny Buchanan was shot. 469 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 13: Police learned of another shooting mail me that was Caroline 470 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 13: Namro from the very beginning of the episode. After pulling 471 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,600 Speaker 13: into a gas station, she heard a loud gunshot prim 472 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 13: Kumar Wallacher then collapsed in front of her. She immediately 473 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 13: called nine one one. 474 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 2: As I was speaking to the nine one one people, 475 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 2: I saw this police car. 476 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 3: And I waved over to him, and I went over 477 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 3: to the taxi driver at mister Wallaka. He was taking 478 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 3: a few breaths. He was not verbal at that point. 479 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 3: The last thing he said was when he looked at 480 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:05,719 Speaker 3: the window and he said, call an ambulance, and then 481 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 3: he collapsed. I felt such panic as a physician because 482 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 3: I felt helpless. I had no equipment, no monitor to 483 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 3: put the person on, no oxygen, no suction. I'm used 484 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 3: to having everything to hand. What focused me was as 485 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 3: I spoke to myself in my head, you know you 486 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 3: can do this. 487 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 2: You know CPR, you're a doctor. I dropped to the floor. 488 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 3: And tried to check for a pulse, and then the 489 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 3: policeman appeared and I said, I'll do the mathter mouth part. 490 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 3: You do the chest compressions. I started CPR and the 491 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 3: policeman did assist me. I remember my hands were shaking 492 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 3: as I was doing this. 493 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 2: There was a lot of blood, and. 494 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 3: I realized that he was stopping breathing. I couldn't feel 495 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 3: a good pulse. I think I felt for a second 496 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 3: or two, very very thready, thin, uneven pulse, and then 497 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 3: it went away. Unfortunately, he vomited. By that point, two 498 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 3: ambulances appeared and they parted on Connecticut Avenue, and I 499 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 3: remember saying to the police, then, why are they not coming. 500 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 3: I need to suction the airway. You can't do math 501 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 3: and mouth if the airway's block. So I didn't understand 502 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 3: why were they not getting out. Then the ambulance people 503 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 3: did come out of the trucks, and they did come 504 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 3: towards us. It was all a matter of minutes. Of course, 505 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 3: at the time, it felt extremely prolonged for everybody to arrive, 506 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 3: but I don't think it was. Then the ambulance people 507 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 3: tried to intubate at the scene and put mister Wilker 508 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 3: on a gurney, and then I just remember a lot 509 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,360 Speaker 3: of police presence and everything happened very first after that, 510 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 3: and my husband had arrived and he'd been allowed to 511 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 3: take my son, my two year old away, So I was. 512 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 2: Very disturbed the whole day. 513 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 3: It's horrific that somebody could murder somebody. 514 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,480 Speaker 2: Just awful, what a waste. And I was there. 515 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 3: You know, you start to question, well, why was it 516 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 3: him not me? Normally I part the car and I 517 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 3: immediately get out of the car. But that day I 518 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 3: paused for a few seconds because he was filling his 519 00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 3: gas tank from where the license plate was, and that 520 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 3: had slowed me down, and that's why I didn't get out. 521 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 13: Of the car. 522 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 3: So that few seconds of delay made a difference to 523 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 3: my life. I was the slightly blurrier object behind my windshield. 524 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 2: The clearer shot was to the guy that was out 525 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 2: of the car. 526 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 3: But if I hadn't been nosy and looked over at him, 527 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,000 Speaker 3: Wow was he doing filling the car? 528 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:39,920 Speaker 2: That's really weird. Why is his gas tank there? 529 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 3: I would have got out, you know, maybe it would 530 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,680 Speaker 3: have been a better shot to me so there, But 531 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 3: you know, for the grace of God go I. That's 532 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 3: a very shocking thought to be faced with your own mortality. 533 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,959 Speaker 13: Montgomery County police were starting to realize they had something 534 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 13: big on their hands. At this gas station where prim 535 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 13: Kamar Wallaker was shot, law enforcement held the first of 536 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 13: many press conferences. 537 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 5: We are presently making all of the notifications to the 538 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 5: immediate family members. Our investigators are making that personal contact 539 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 5: to all of those individuals. 540 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 13: This is Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose. Since these 541 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 13: shootings took place in his jurisdiction, Chief Moose was in 542 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 13: charge of the investigation. 543 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:40,719 Speaker 5: We have a number of different resources that have been deployed. Clearly, 544 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 5: we have a number of police officers on the street 545 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 5: in uniform, in playing clothes. They are numerous traffic stops, 546 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 5: numerous arrests occurring throughout the county. We're also putting together 547 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 5: the last technical pieces of the hotline. We anticipate in 548 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 5: the next couple hours coming back to you with that number. 549 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 5: Would ask you as the media to please be very 550 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 5: diligent in helping us get that number out, and I 551 00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 5: would anticipate at that same time that we would connect 552 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,360 Speaker 5: that hotline. 553 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 17: To a reward. 554 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:17,760 Speaker 5: The FBI, atf US Marshals, and the Secret Service all 555 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 5: involved in this investigation bringing resources to the table, bringing investigators, 556 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 5: bringing experience to this situation that is very bizarre to 557 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 5: all of us. 558 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:36,200 Speaker 6: The fear of these attacks, the fear spawned by these attacks, 559 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 6: really rippled across the capital region and up and down 560 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 6: the East Coast, whether you were an ordinary office worker, 561 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,960 Speaker 6: a school child, or a law enforcement official. 562 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,720 Speaker 13: This is journalist and historian Garrick Graff. 563 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 6: In some ways, the fear was truly crippling at the 564 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 6: time because what you had was, you know, we had 565 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 6: been told for a year, since nine eleven, that more 566 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 6: attacks were coming. We didn't know when, we didn't know 567 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,680 Speaker 6: what form they were going to take, and we didn't 568 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 6: know how long the attacks would go on. Federal law 569 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 6: enforcement and the intelligence agencies had been already operating at 570 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 6: a crushing tempo in the wake of nine to eleven, 571 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,719 Speaker 6: and then along comes the DC Stiper and all of 572 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 6: the country's worst fears are realized. The idea that these 573 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 6: were ongoing attacks with very little information, carried out for 574 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,560 Speaker 6: no discernible purpose. This was, in some ways the worst 575 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:39,360 Speaker 6: case scenario for what we had all feared was coming 576 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:45,600 Speaker 6: after nine to eleven, as the Stiper attacks continued and spread, 577 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 6: This was something that just altered the fabric of life 578 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 6: in the Capitol. It was scary to be outside. It 579 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 6: was scary to be on your daily commute. It was 580 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 6: scary to go to the grocery store or fill up 581 00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 6: your car with gas. And then as the DC sniper 582 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,080 Speaker 6: case unfolded, that terror only grew. 583 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 13: Even at my station in Baltimore. The paranoia and confusion 584 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,320 Speaker 13: was everywhere. No one knew when or where the snipers 585 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 13: would strike next. It was a terrible feeling, one that 586 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,799 Speaker 13: stuck with us for weeks, and it's a feeling I'll 587 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 13: never forget. Just when you thought it might be over, 588 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 13: news would come in about another shooting. After law enforcement 589 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 13: held their first press conference that day, on October third, 590 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 13: the attacks continued. Just twenty five minutes after prim Kumar 591 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,520 Speaker 13: Wallaker was killed at a mobile gas station, another unsuspecting 592 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 13: victim was shot only two miles away. 593 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 11: We do see that there is a bullet hole just 594 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 11: above the bench on the large window there. The woman, 595 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 11: as we understand, was shot in the face, apparently as 596 00:35:57,560 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 11: she was just sitting there. 597 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 14: There is a ruthless person on the loose. 598 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 11: What I nerves this community the most is the randomness 599 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,440 Speaker 11: of the murders, ordinary people doing ordinary things. 600 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 10: All that the victims appeared to have had in common 601 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,320 Speaker 10: Each was shot to death by a single bullet. 602 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,239 Speaker 12: Be careful, these guys are using weapons that are going 603 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 12: to go right straight through our bulletproof ess. 604 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 4: The massive man on continues, but police admit they don't 605 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,239 Speaker 4: know who are, what they're dealing with, or what their 606 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:26,040 Speaker 4: motive might be. 607 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:27,400 Speaker 9: The White. 608 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 13: From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. This is Monster DC Sniper 609 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,640 Speaker 13: this season on Monster DC Sniper. 610 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 4: Police have had little to go on. Only one witness's 611 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,480 Speaker 4: description of two people in a white truck speeding away 612 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:53,600 Speaker 4: from one murders e. 613 00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 10: And he described the vehicle and he said guy was 614 00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:59,560 Speaker 10: leaning out like on the driver's side mirror. 615 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 1: That was the first lead where someone had actually seen somebody. 616 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:06,040 Speaker 13: More about that calling card. 617 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,680 Speaker 4: It was left at the scene of the most recent shooting. 618 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,560 Speaker 12: It was a card from a fortune telling deck that's 619 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,319 Speaker 12: known as the death card, with a note written on it, 620 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:16,959 Speaker 12: dear policeman, I am God. 621 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 6: But they find out soon that the information they got 622 00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:20,600 Speaker 6: was bad. 623 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 8: FBI in Washington, DC did a more thorough search. 624 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,160 Speaker 16: And that's when we got a hit on a fingerprint. 625 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 12: We just heard it on the local AM radio station. 626 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 12: The snipers are in the rest area in Myersville, send 627 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 12: everybody you got. 628 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 13: If you understood the case, it was basically just two outcomes, 629 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 13: death are life. That was it. 630 00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: His sentencing is not constitutionally acceptable. 631 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,240 Speaker 10: He has to be sentenced in a way that gives 632 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:49,439 Speaker 10: a jury the option. 633 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:50,440 Speaker 13: To go lower than that. 634 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:55,120 Speaker 12: He was a psychopathic, cold blooded killer that can never 635 00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:56,240 Speaker 12: walk the street again. 636 00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 21: I do believe he was brainwashed, for lack of better term, 637 00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:03,919 Speaker 21: I get the feeling he agrees he has to pay 638 00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 21: a price, but I don't know if he thinks he's 639 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,640 Speaker 21: already paid it or not. I don't know the answer 640 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 21: to that, but I'd like to ask him. 641 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:20,399 Speaker 1: Monster DC Sniper is a fifteen episode podcast hosted by 642 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 1: Tony Harris and produced by iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. Matt 643 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 1: Frederick and Alex Williams are executive producers on behalf of iHeartRadio, 644 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: alongside producers Trevor Young, Ben Keebrick, and Josh Thain. Payne 645 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:37,279 Speaker 1: Lindsay and Donald Albright are executive producers on behalf of 646 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:43,320 Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV alongside producers Meredith Stedman and Christina Dana. Original 647 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:47,320 Speaker 1: music is by Makeup and Vanity Set. If you haven't already, 648 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,040 Speaker 1: be sure to check out the first two seasons, Atlanta 649 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,880 Speaker 1: Monster and Monster the Zodiac Killer. If you have questions 650 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: or comments, email us at monster at iHeartMedia dot com, 651 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: or you can call us at one one eight three 652 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:05,840 Speaker 1: three two eight five six six six seven. Thanks for listening.