- WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A rental-car company attendant
Friday discovered a shell casing while cleaning a white box truck of the
type witnesses reported seeing at scenes of some of the Washington-area
sniper shootings, CNN reported.
-
- The shell casing was quickly placed in the custody of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms experts who are expected to determine whether
it could have fired a .223 caliber bullet. Authorities have said that the
sniper who has killed nine people this month is using a .223 caliber weapon.
-
- The BATF is expected to disclose the result of its examination
of the casing no sooner than 9 a.m. EDT Saturday.
-
- A source close to the investigation told CNN that the
rental agency where the truck was being cleaned is located near Northern
Virginia's Dulles International Airport.
-
- Earlier Friday police charged a Virginia man with misleading
investigators by telling them that he witnessed the Washington area's elusive
sniper kill a 47-year-old woman in a Home Depot parking lot.
-
- The so-called "witness" claimed he saw the
sniper fire a military-style weapon and provided police with a detailed
description of the assailant's cream-colored van, as well as some clues
about what the sniper may have looked like.
-
- Police later said the man's account was not credible
and urged news outlets to correct the information.
-
- The man's description of the van had been relayed to
law enforcement and news outlets across the Washington, D.C., area, and
police engaged in a massive search for the vehicle. News media also disseminated
the information, urging members of the public to come forward if they had
spotted the van.
-
- Police said that when this misinformation was broadcast
and published, it may have kept people with real leads from coming forward.
-
- The sniper began his rampage Oct. 2, and police have
not yet been able to identify him or obtain solid information about his
whereabouts.
-
- Matthew Dowdy, 37, of Falls Church, Va., was taken into
custody at 4:15 p.m. Friday and charged with "making false statements
to law enforcement officers in the course of a police investigation,"
according to Fairfax County police. If convicted, he could be sentenced
to six months in jail.
-
- Dowdy could not be reached for comment.
-
- FBI analyst Linda Franklin, 47, was shot and killed Monday
in the parking lot of a Home Depot store in Falls Church, Va., about eight
miles southwest of the nation's capital. Nine people have been killed and
two wounded in the area since Oct. 2.
-
- Over the ensuing 16 days, the police have not been able
to identify the sniper or obtain solid information about the shooter or
shooters.
-
- The continuing fear over the shootings has caused schools
and other groups to cancel outdoor meetings and public gatherings. Local
high school football teams have suspended play or are playing in cities
as far away as 100 miles and keeping the locations secret.
-
- Monday, after the shooting in Falls Church, Dowdy told
police that he had seen a man with olive-colored skin put an AK-74 rifle
to his shoulder, open fire from 30 yards away from the victim, and flee
in a cream-colored van with a broken taillight.
-
- Members of the police task force later discredited this
account.
-
- Authorities said they learned that Dowdy's description
of Monday's shooting was erroneous when his story failed to match other
accounts from the scene.
-
- Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger said Thursday,
"We continue to follow up on leads from other witnesses that we have
at the scene."
-
- Police still urge the public to come forward with information
that may be helpful to the investigation.
-
- Authorities continue to be on the look out for a white
van, a Chevrolet Astro or Ford Econovan, both with ladder racks. They released
composite photos of the vans that were seen at a shooting in Fredericksburg,
Va. Earlier, police circulated a picture of a small, white box truck that
was spotted at other shootings.
-
- A reward fund has reached $500,000 for information leading
to the arrest and indictment of the sniper.
-
-
- Copyright © 2002 United Press International. All
rights reserved.
|
