Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Sniper CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 comply in the manner that you re quested,” Moose said. “However! we remain open and ready to talk to you about the options you have mentioned.’} He said the sniper was seeking an 800 telephone number to talk with authorities, and he offered to set up a private post office box “or a another secure method.” “You indicated that this is about more than violence,” said Moose, who had asked the sniper to contact authorities for two days before Tuesday’s slaying. “We are waiting to hear from you.” He refused to take questions from reporters. The sniper has killed nine peo ple and critically wounded three others in Maryland, Virginia and Washington since Oct. 2. Authorities were awaiting ballis tics tests to confirm that bus driv er Conrad Johnson is the killer’s latest victim. Johnson, 35, was gunned down in Aspen Hill, the same commu nity in suburban Washington urhfsro fha a+faplrc Hoaari He was shot once in the ab domen just before 6 a.m. as he stood on the top step of his bus, setting off a police dragnet and snarling traffic in the suburbs north of the nation’s capital. Johnson, a married father of two children, died later at a hospital. The warning about children’s safety was discovered by police outside a steakhouse near Richmond, Va„ where the sniper critically wounded a man Saturday night. Moose said the warning came in the form of a “postscript,” but refused to de scribe the rest of the note. However, a senior law en forcement official speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the note de manded $10 million. It was un clear whether the demand was linked to the options outlined by Moose. Kathy Franco, who was shop ping Tuesday at a Silver Spring mall with her year-old son, Liam, and six-week-old daughter, Katherine, was angered by the warning about children. “As a parent, it just completely brings out every animal instinct,” she said. “These two are the most PHOTO BY CHUCK KENNEDY/KRT CAMPUS Law enforcement officials search the scene of the shooting of a bus driver. Police are investigating the killing as if It Is the work of the D.C.-area sniper who began terrorizing the area Oct. 2. important things in the world for ** me. Schools in the Richmond area remained closed for a second day Tuesday, idling more than 140,000 students. School officials had cited information from police in shut ting down, prompting questions for Moose, whose office is leading the sprawling investigation. Moose said investigators rec ognized “the concerns of the com munity” and decided to provide the “exact language that pertains “This is hitting hard. This not only strikes us as a community, but as a people, as a nation.” HAROLD MCCLAM D.C. AREA RESIDENT to the threat.” The Virginia schools will re open Wednesday under height ened security. As of Monday evening, no Maryland schools had decided to close. Immediately after Tuesday’s shooting, police put a widespread dragnet into place, clogging traf fic on Connecticut Avenue, one of the main arteries into Washington, just as the morning commute began. But police came up empty, and Moose said there was no suspect or vehicle description to report. “We have not been able to as sure that anyone, any age, any gender, any race — we’ve not been able to assure anyone their safe ty,” Moose said. The shooting happened near a wooded area along Connecticut Avenue. The bus was parked at a staging area where drivers get ready for their morning runs, state police spokesman Cpl. Rob Moroney said. Police refused to say whether anyone else was on the bus. All the confirmed sniper vic tims were felled by a single shot. Several residents of a neighbor ing apartment complex reported hearing one loud bang Tuesday morning. “It wasn’t a pop like a handgun. If it was a gun, it was a high-pow ered weapon,” said Tim Roberts, a carpenter who lives nearby. He said he knew about the sound of weapons from his military ser vice. Johnson, a 10-year county em ployee, was pronounced dead at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. In his Oxon Hill neighborhood of townhouses and tree-lined streets, residents expressed sorrow. “This is hitting hard. This not only strikes us as a community, but as a people, as a nation,” said Harold McClam, who frequently saw Johnson leaving for work in the mornings. “When they catch this guy they need to punish him to the full extent of the law.” Fellow bus driver Wade Vassell said a friend had called him with the bad news. “I know my boy eight years. He was my friend,” Vassell said. “I’m nervous, real nervous.” Grant CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 recent public health graduates. “Our center is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to op portunities for graduates in this area,” he said. The South Carolina Health Department is hiring more than 80 people in the area of bioterrorism research, he said. One of the center’s emphases will be coastal terrorism issues. South Carolina’s coastline, which attracts close to 14 people each year, is a vital part of the state’s economy. The Charleston sea port, which ranks fourth nation ally in terms of traffic, handles $33 billion of cargo a year. Researchers say these two factors make South Carolina’s coast par ticularly vulnerable to bioter forism attack. “We don’t patrol every square inch of the coastal areas,” Feigley said. “There are lots of scenarios that you could envi sion in which large quantities of some kind of biohazardous agent could be transported right into Charleston Harbor and re loacoH oi ther in the air or wa ter.” One of those sce narios in volves the release of ballast wa ter from big ships that come into ir* Whan tko ships come into shallow har bors, they release water from the hull so that the ship will float higher in the water. According to Geoff Scott from the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and bi molecular research in Charleston, this has already been an issue in Washington state and Texas. In 1997 and 1998, ballast water from ships in those state’s harbors released a harm ful substance into the water known as vibrio parahaemolyti cus, a strain of bacteria from Pakistan. The bacteria contam inated the shellfish, causing a number of illnesses throughout “I think we have to be sensitive to the possibility of a bioterrorist threat” ANDREW SORENSEN use PRESIDENT + T-I o the state. “While this was an accidental release of ballast water, what we’re concerned about is the po tential for somebody making de liberate discharges of these types of agents,” said Scott. “By having good, basic research on these types of threats in the baseline, it gives us a knowledge to under stand when we have illnesses from these.” Another cause for concern is the number of nuclear facilities in South Carolina, including the Savannah River Site which produces and stores nuclear materials for the U.S. Depart ment of Defense, and two low level nuclear waste landfills in Barnwell and Sumter counties This past Friday, the Department of Health and Environmental Control an nounced it will distribute potas sium iodine pills to residents within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. These pills are known to reduce the potential harmful effect of iodizing radi ation. Pastides said the announce ment raises many questions that USC’s center will hope to answer. “Now, I don’t have those answers today, but what we’re going to do as risk-communications re searchers is work with DHEC to develop what is a good commu nication plan,” he said. “Not only what to say, but how to get it to people.” USC President Andrew Sorensen will also work with the center’s research. As part of the Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness, which reports to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, he has a background in bioterrorism re search. “I think we have to be sensi tive to the possibility of a bioter rorist threat,” he said. 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