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Sniper hotline got 15,000 calls Tuesday
From Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The shooting death Monday night of a female FBI employee in her suburban neighborhood struck a nerve with an angry and frightened public, triggering a tidal wave of phone calls to the sniper hotline operated by the FBI's Washington field office. The hotline received 15,183 calls Tuesday, the day after the slaying of 47-year-old Linda Franklin, an FBI intelligence operations specialist. (Tips for tipsters) "That's the most calls we've received on any single day," said FBI spokesman Chris Murray. "Obviously she is a very sympathetic decedent." (About Franklin's life) Murray said it was clear the public is trying to help the investigation, but he would not comment on whether the flood of calls in the immediate aftermath of Monday's shooting included any with detailed or useful investigative leads. Seventy-five FBI employees handled the barrage of phone calls Tuesday. Wednesday the flow of calls had slowed significantly, officials said. The series of shootings that began October 2 have left nine dead and two wounded. Each victim was shot with a single .223-caliber bullet. (Following the sniper's trail) A witness to Monday's shooting told authorities that he saw a man brandishing a weapon on his shoulder, and it is believed the shot was fired from 30 yards away, sources said Wednesday. The sniper's previous victims were all shot from a distance of several hundred yards, authorities have said. (Full story) Some witnesses in the vicinity of Franklin's slaying and in another of the area killings saw an olive-skinned man in a white van, law enforcement sources said Tuesday. Despite those witness accounts, police said Wednesday they were unable to develop a composite sketch of a suspect. "There's so much disparity in their descriptions that there is no one description to put out," said Capt. Nancy Demme of the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department, which is leading the multijurisdictional investigation. As of midnight Tuesday the total number of calls to the hotline since it opened last week stood at 69,505. Leaders of the investigation continue to urge people to call the hotline: 1-888-324-9800. But they are also encouraging members of the public with potential information to consider an alternative -- leaving tip information through the FBI Web site, www.FBI.gov.
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