|
|
||
|
Mall shooting stuns area Officials scour area for possible links to Maryland sniper attacks after Spotsylvania woman is shot in back at local store. Date published: 10/5/2002
Authorities probe link to Md. spree Moments after a sniper shot a 43-year-old woman in the back outside Michaels Arts and Crafts in Spotsylvania County, frightened customers and employees gathered in a circle to pray. "Everyone had tears in their eyes," said Stafford resident Janice Herbert, who was there buying picture frames yesterday afternoon. "No one could believe this was happening here." Police say the 2:30 p.m. shooting in front of Spotsylvania Mall is "strikingly" similar to a series of deadly sniper attacks in Montgomery County, Md., and Washington earlier in the week. A helicopter carrying Montgomery police detectives landed near the mall Pizza Hut about 5:45 p.m., and they immediately joined dozens of local investigators, state police, FBI and Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents already swarming the parking lot in search of clues. "Certainly it is interesting, and we feel it is important enough to send investigators there," Montgomery police Chief Charles Moose said last night. Spotsylvania sheriff's Maj. Howard Smith, however, stopped well short of connecting the incident with the Maryland and Washington shootings during a brief press conference last night. "There is no way to tell right now if there is a connection," Smith said after being briefed by investigators. "But we will be working closely with the Maryland authorities." Police found evidence at the scene, and some was taken by helicopter to an ATF lab in Maryland, Smith said. The woman's brown Toyota Sienna minivan also was taken to the lab. It was loaded into an enclosed trailer to be moved. The shooting victim, a mother of three who lives in Spotsylvania, was putting packages in the back of her minivan when a bullet struck the lower right side of her back, Spotsylvania sheriff's Capt. Michael Timm said. She was alone at the time. The bullet went through her back and came out under her left breast, police said, before leaving a hole in the back of her vehicle. Detectives believe the shot might have been fired from the area near Pizza Hut, across the road leading into the mall.
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
|
|
|||||||||
