Teen’s shooting tied to sniper attacks

THE BULLET removed from the boy was turned over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and taken to a bureau lab for analysis. Ballistics tests revealed the link between this shooting and the earlier ones.

On Wednesday and Thursday, five people were shot to death by a sniper in a 16-hour span in neighboring Montgomery County. A sixth victim was killed Thursday in Washington. On Friday, a woman was shot and wounded in Virginia.

“Forensic evidence recovered today has been linked to the shooting at the scenes in Montgomery County, the District of Columbia and Fredericksburg, Va.,” said BATF agent Joe Riehl.

The boy, whose name has not been released, was shot once in the chest outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School. The shooting appeared to have been from a distance because no one reported seeing the shooter.

Gerald Wilson, police chief for Prince George’s County, said there were few witnesses because the shooting happened about a half-hour before classes started. He appealed to the public to call any tips into a police hot line at 800-673-2777. A total of $150,000 in rewards has been posted for help in solving the shootings