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Talk with Bob Myers, Brother of Sniper Victim
Aired October 24, 2002 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me on the telephone right now is a man whose life's been forever change by the sniper spree. His name is Bob Myers. He lost his brother, Dean, on October 9th -- that was the sniper's ninth victim -- when he was shot a gas station. Bob, it's good to hear from you again. First of all, where were you had when you heard this news this morning that police think that they have got the two men responsible for this horrible, horrible spree?
BOB MYERS, BROTHER OF SNIPER VICTIM: Still at home, preparing for the day.
ZAHN: And I know been a lot of fits and starts into this investigation, and some promising leads that were followed and didn't yield as much. Was there part of you that was skeptical that maybe in the end the investigators had found the two men that were responsible for this?
MYERS: I was quite hopeful. I had seen some news last night when Chief Moose was identifying the people and the vehicle and all, and I was quite hopeful that the pieces were coming together, and it certainly appears that they have.
ZAHN: You have shown such enormous strength for this long period you've had to endue, and I know you said that you come from a close- knit family. And you've really tried to go on with hour you're life. You've so eloquently honored the legacy of your brother's life. Is there a sense of relief, can you feel that yet, or are you just too numb.
MYERS: Well, the relief is really not for us. The relief is for everybody else that's still alive. Every time that we would hear of another act against someone, you know, shooting them down, injuring them or killing them. You know, it just caused you to sink one more notch, you know, just in empathy for the people, because now there's a whole other realm of people that have to go through what we are already experiencing.
So my relief primarily is for the rest of the people that are still alive, and we're just pleased that it appears that the gun -- the bloodshed from these potential men are -- is over at this point.
ZAHN: I know from my previous conversations with you, you're a man of great faith. You have very strong convictions. But are you bitter at all of what happened to your brother? Your brother was killed allegedly by these two men?
MYERS: It is certainly that one has to be vigilant about, but no, I would say that there isn't a bitterness. I believe that those responsible have to deal with the authorities that God has instituted. First, he instituted human government, and I believe that these men have his faith, the justice from the human government, and also God says that he'll avenge losses as well.
So we defer to those two authorities, and obey the scripture that indicates that we're not to avenge ourselves as individuals.
ZAHN: I know in my last conversation with you, you talked a lot about the very principled life your brother led, a veteran, a man who served his country well, and a man who certainly appreciated the great outdoors, and showed a sense of gratitude every day for God's gifts. What do you know people to know about your brother this morning who haven't heard you talk about him before and his legacy, and what do you think his life should stand for?
MYERS: Well, he was a multifaceted man, so it's hard to pin down a couple of words of what that would be. But certainly he was a patriot and on a personal level, and a little phrase has come out recently within the family, and that is that he was uncle Dean to many and a friend to all. And that's really what Dean was.
ZAHN: Bob, a final thought on what this means to the community, if in fact, the law enforcement has finally nabbed the two men they believe are responsible for this reign of terror in this part of country?
MYERS: Well, certainly from the community's perspective, once things are finalized to confirm that these are in fact the men responsible, there has to be a great relief. And it just goes to show that folks need to be vigilant not only as a protection for themselves, but as that motorist was this morning to protect others by being vigilant for information that might be helpful to keep bloodshed from occurring again.
We just hope that there is -- this is truly the ones responsible and that there's no further action for many associates or anyone else.
ZAHN: Well, you have shown great grace throughout this horrible period of time in our nation's history, and we really appreciate your sharing some thoughts about your brother and some thoughts about what this arrest means in country today, if in fact, law enforcement got the two guys responsible for this string of killings.
MYERS: Thank you very much. It's a privilege to be able to discuss these things with the world through the medium that you're providing, because Dean certainly is a man that is worthy of respect and honor of his memory, and we certainly want to project a view that honors God as we go through it. We are happy to salute his legacy here this morning.
Bob Meyers, thank you for your time this morning. Very much appreciate it. Our thoughts are with your family during this horrible period of time.
Let's check in with Bob Franken now, who literally was pretty much on duty shortly after these two men were arrested at a rest stop last night.
Bob, Jeanne Meserve just confirming that her sources are telling her, no weapons were recovered in the search of this car. Is the car still there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The car is still here. We keep waiting for it to be removed. As you can see, that area, the rest area where the arrests were made is still being blocked off. You can see the state police cruiser in the back of me and there are others at the other end. And they've been there since this all happened very early this morning, by which I mean, about 1:00 a.m., somebody -- the man called in and told state police he'd spotted the car, that he'd heard about on the broadcast. State police officers weren't up there. And they conducted surveillance while the SWAT team was called together, and after a couple of hours, the arrests were made. And since then, they've been searching for evidence.
We have been told that by witnesses, that although Jeanne Meserve reports that no weapon was taken from the automobile, that they did have -- they did take a couple of duffel bags of material from thing car. They being the people doing the inspections of car after the arrest. So, of course, we don't know what is in the duffel bag. But they'd be searching for weapons, they'd be searching for, obviously, ammunition, DNA evidence, fingerprints, everything and anything.
Now, there has been a warrant secured that now allows them do even more an even more thorough search, and we've been led to believe that the car will be taken here and taken to another location, we understand Montgomery County, where an even more thorough search can begin, as they try and build the case that they are trying to build and end the siege that has gripped the Washington area in points north and south for over three weeks now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Bob, I know there are still so many questions swirling in the air. All of us noticed that this car carried New Jersey license plates, and we talked about this earlier this morning. We never even heard about this type of car potentially being used before. Do we know anything about those plates?
MYERS: Well, the plates -- some people have been speculated by some people, I mean, some of the authorities have speculated that it was a car that belonged to a relative or to a friend. And of course we also know that it was not a white van. It was not the kind of white van that they were looking for, and that raises questions about whether they should have accurately ever look for a white van. By the way, there is a little bit of irony that the vehicle driven by the person who spotted the automobile was a white van.
ZAHN: All right, Bob, please stand by, because we are going to come back to when you that car is ultimately moved. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 24, 2002 - 09:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me on the telephone right now is a man whose life's been forever change by the sniper spree. His name is Bob Myers. He lost his brother, Dean, on October 9th -- that was the sniper's ninth victim -- when he was shot a gas station. Bob, it's good to hear from you again. First of all, where were you had when you heard this news this morning that police think that they have got the two men responsible for this horrible, horrible spree?
BOB MYERS, BROTHER OF SNIPER VICTIM: Still at home, preparing for the day.
ZAHN: And I know been a lot of fits and starts into this investigation, and some promising leads that were followed and didn't yield as much. Was there part of you that was skeptical that maybe in the end the investigators had found the two men that were responsible for this?
MYERS: I was quite hopeful. I had seen some news last night when Chief Moose was identifying the people and the vehicle and all, and I was quite hopeful that the pieces were coming together, and it certainly appears that they have.
ZAHN: You have shown such enormous strength for this long period you've had to endue, and I know you said that you come from a close- knit family. And you've really tried to go on with hour you're life. You've so eloquently honored the legacy of your brother's life. Is there a sense of relief, can you feel that yet, or are you just too numb.
MYERS: Well, the relief is really not for us. The relief is for everybody else that's still alive. Every time that we would hear of another act against someone, you know, shooting them down, injuring them or killing them. You know, it just caused you to sink one more notch, you know, just in empathy for the people, because now there's a whole other realm of people that have to go through what we are already experiencing.
So my relief primarily is for the rest of the people that are still alive, and we're just pleased that it appears that the gun -- the bloodshed from these potential men are -- is over at this point.
ZAHN: I know from my previous conversations with you, you're a man of great faith. You have very strong convictions. But are you bitter at all of what happened to your brother? Your brother was killed allegedly by these two men?
MYERS: It is certainly that one has to be vigilant about, but no, I would say that there isn't a bitterness. I believe that those responsible have to deal with the authorities that God has instituted. First, he instituted human government, and I believe that these men have his faith, the justice from the human government, and also God says that he'll avenge losses as well.
So we defer to those two authorities, and obey the scripture that indicates that we're not to avenge ourselves as individuals.
ZAHN: I know in my last conversation with you, you talked a lot about the very principled life your brother led, a veteran, a man who served his country well, and a man who certainly appreciated the great outdoors, and showed a sense of gratitude every day for God's gifts. What do you know people to know about your brother this morning who haven't heard you talk about him before and his legacy, and what do you think his life should stand for?
MYERS: Well, he was a multifaceted man, so it's hard to pin down a couple of words of what that would be. But certainly he was a patriot and on a personal level, and a little phrase has come out recently within the family, and that is that he was uncle Dean to many and a friend to all. And that's really what Dean was.
ZAHN: Bob, a final thought on what this means to the community, if in fact, the law enforcement has finally nabbed the two men they believe are responsible for this reign of terror in this part of country?
MYERS: Well, certainly from the community's perspective, once things are finalized to confirm that these are in fact the men responsible, there has to be a great relief. And it just goes to show that folks need to be vigilant not only as a protection for themselves, but as that motorist was this morning to protect others by being vigilant for information that might be helpful to keep bloodshed from occurring again.
We just hope that there is -- this is truly the ones responsible and that there's no further action for many associates or anyone else.
ZAHN: Well, you have shown great grace throughout this horrible period of time in our nation's history, and we really appreciate your sharing some thoughts about your brother and some thoughts about what this arrest means in country today, if in fact, law enforcement got the two guys responsible for this string of killings.
MYERS: Thank you very much. It's a privilege to be able to discuss these things with the world through the medium that you're providing, because Dean certainly is a man that is worthy of respect and honor of his memory, and we certainly want to project a view that honors God as we go through it. We are happy to salute his legacy here this morning.
Bob Meyers, thank you for your time this morning. Very much appreciate it. Our thoughts are with your family during this horrible period of time.
Let's check in with Bob Franken now, who literally was pretty much on duty shortly after these two men were arrested at a rest stop last night.
Bob, Jeanne Meserve just confirming that her sources are telling her, no weapons were recovered in the search of this car. Is the car still there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The car is still here. We keep waiting for it to be removed. As you can see, that area, the rest area where the arrests were made is still being blocked off. You can see the state police cruiser in the back of me and there are others at the other end. And they've been there since this all happened very early this morning, by which I mean, about 1:00 a.m., somebody -- the man called in and told state police he'd spotted the car, that he'd heard about on the broadcast. State police officers weren't up there. And they conducted surveillance while the SWAT team was called together, and after a couple of hours, the arrests were made. And since then, they've been searching for evidence.
We have been told that by witnesses, that although Jeanne Meserve reports that no weapon was taken from the automobile, that they did have -- they did take a couple of duffel bags of material from thing car. They being the people doing the inspections of car after the arrest. So, of course, we don't know what is in the duffel bag. But they'd be searching for weapons, they'd be searching for, obviously, ammunition, DNA evidence, fingerprints, everything and anything.
Now, there has been a warrant secured that now allows them do even more an even more thorough search, and we've been led to believe that the car will be taken here and taken to another location, we understand Montgomery County, where an even more thorough search can begin, as they try and build the case that they are trying to build and end the siege that has gripped the Washington area in points north and south for over three weeks now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Bob, I know there are still so many questions swirling in the air. All of us noticed that this car carried New Jersey license plates, and we talked about this earlier this morning. We never even heard about this type of car potentially being used before. Do we know anything about those plates?
MYERS: Well, the plates -- some people have been speculated by some people, I mean, some of the authorities have speculated that it was a car that belonged to a relative or to a friend. And of course we also know that it was not a white van. It was not the kind of white van that they were looking for, and that raises questions about whether they should have accurately ever look for a white van. By the way, there is a little bit of irony that the vehicle driven by the person who spotted the automobile was a white van.
ZAHN: All right, Bob, please stand by, because we are going to come back to when you that car is ultimately moved. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
