New Sniper Killings In U.S., 3 Dead

17/08/2003| IslamWeb

Bullets that killed three people in separate shootings outside convenience stores in and around West Virginia's capital were of the same caliber and fired from the same kind of weapon, officials said. Police on Friday stopped short of definitively linking the crimes, which took place in the past week. "All three balls had the same characteristics," Kanawha County Sheriff Dave Tucker said. "But we can't say for sure it's the same gun." Kanawha County Chief Deputy Phil Morris said he was concerned that the Charleston shootings resembled last year's sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area. Federal officials joined state and local authorities in the hunt for the shooter. Two victims were shot in the head and another was hit in the neck, Tucker said. The shooter was more than 30 yards away from all three, officials said. Earlier, police said they believed a rifle was used in the attacks. All were gunned down outside convenience stores, including a man killed while talking on a pay phone and a woman killed while pumping gas. In addition, authorities are not ruling out a possible connection to a March shooting in which the victim was shot twice in the chest and killed outside a supermarket. Tucker did not discuss ballistics results from the March shooting. Hurrying through a grocery store parking lot 10 miles from one of the shootings, Bob Tyler said the shootings made it feel unsafe for him to stand and chat: "It clears out the context we think of as a small town." Tammy Arthur, who lives about 200 yards from a convenience store where a Cedar Grove resident was shot and killed Thursday, reacted to the news by buying beer and going swimming in the nearby Kanawha River. "It made us think, sure, but I'm not going to be afraid to walk out of the hollow by the store," Arthur said. "I'm not going to barricade myself in my house." Police warned residents not to visit convenience stores alone, and law enforcement officials stepped up patrols in the area Friday night. "We are now investigating into what could be a possible serial-type murder," Tucker said. The sheriff said the bullets in the latest three killings were from a "small caliber" weapon but declined to discuss details. Police identified the victims of Thursday's shootings as Jeanie Patton, 31, of Campbells Creek, and Okey Meadows, 26, of Cedar Grove. Gary Carrier Jr., 34, of South Charleston, was shot in the head and killed Sunday night while using a pay phone outside a convenience store on Charleston's west side. Randall Burgess, 23, was shot twice in the chest and killed outside a supermarket on March 20. "The investigation so far is that they did not know one another, but we are still looking into those possibilities," Tucker said. Patton was shot while pumping gas in Campbells Creek, less than 10 miles east of Charleston. Meadows was killed about an hour later and 10 miles further east outside a convenience store in Cedar Grove on U.S. 60. Morris said police believe a rifle was used in each shooting because the shot that killed Meadows was fired from 60 to 70 yards away, while Patton was shot from about 30 to 40 yards away. "That was a difficult shot, no question about it," Morris said about Meadows' slaying. Carrier was shot from a similar distance, officials said. Witnesses told police that a black pickup truck at the Cedar Grove store had acted suspiciously before the shooting, moving from one side of the parking lot to another. "Something just didn't seem right about that pickup," Morris said. "Right after the shooting it sped out from the parking lot, spinning its tires." A black pickup also was seen in the Campbells Creek area, Morris said. Tucker said authorities were scrutinizing surveillance camera video from both stores. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Sheriffs investigate the area outside of a Cedar Grove, W.Va., convenience store where a man was fatally shot late Thursday night (Photo: AP)