In Ohio, a Fear That Hits Home

This is what also happened in both communities: The shooter left messages. In Washington, they were cryptic messages about money and God. In Ohio, a man purporting to be the shooter left the following message for police on Jan. 31 during a 911 call: "It's going to get worse. I am intent to start shooting at the police now. They are the ones who have corrupted the world."

The Ohio shooter seen by an eyewitness was a white man in his thirties, maybe early forties. Around six feet. It's a description, but it's a kind of everyman-in-rural-America description. It might as well be George Bailey, the Jimmy Stewart character in "It's a Wonderful Life."

The task force has released no details on the make of the gun used in the shootings, although they have, using ballistics tests, linked eight of the shootings to the same gun. One eyewitness said he believed the shooter had a handgun.

Eyewitness reports in Etna identified the car he was driving as a Geo Metro. Or possibly a Ford Probe. In Washington, the snipers were believed to be driving a white van. The tip came from an eyewitness. The two snipers were apprehended sitting in a Chevrolet Caprice.

Every Friday the Franklin County Sheriff's Department holds another press conference. Usually there is no real news to report. There's a reminder of the $60,000 reward. And there's a plea to the shooter: "We continue to wish to open a dialogue with you. Please contact the tip line as soon as possible."

'You Can't Be Afraid'

Many who live in the Grove City and Obetz and Galloway areas will tell you they moved there to escape nearby Columbus. "To live in the country," as Therese Chilton, a mother of three, puts it.

Back on Nov. 25, Chilton happened to be driving on Interstate 270. She was puzzled by the traffic coming to a near halt. "There was tape up," she says, referring to crime scene tape. "When we got home we found out someone had shot Gail Knisley."

The shootings had started months before Knisley's death, and yet there was no mention of a serial shooter by authorities. That fact has perplexed many.

On the morning of Dec. 17, a school bus near the intersection of Alkire and Demorest roads on the southwestern outskirts of Columbus was shot at. No one was injured. It was the same bus route that Chilton's son and daughter travel on, although they have no idea if their bus was hit. Authorities would not release details on the bus or if anyone was on it at the time it was struck.

"That brought a fear in my mind that I can't explain," Chilton says. She's sitting in her home in Galloway. An employee of the Ohio National Guard, she's got miniature American flags on her front lawn.

Her daughter, Christina, 13, puts on a brave face. "You can't be afraid, and you've got to go on with your life," she says. "You can't be paranoid all the time."

The county school system that Chilton's children attend was shut for two days following the bus shooting. "I was scared those days," says her son, Michael, 12. Soon they got back to being children. They played in the snow in the backyard.

"When it happened it was deer season and I thought it was a kid who was just missing shots," Christina says. "Some of my friends, who I called, said, 'I'm not allowed to go back to school till the sniper is caught.' "

"It's a fear, yes," says Therese. "But now that they've kind of identified him, it gives you a clarity."