By John Mccarthy, The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A bullet that pierced a van’s windshield earlier this week was linked Friday to a series of highway sniper attacks, bringing the total number of shootings to 21.
Cars, school buses and homes have been shot since May on or near a stretch of the Interstate 270 highway south of Columbus. A car passenger was killed in November.
The latest shooting expands the sniper’s target area: It occurred Tuesday about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of where most of the other attacks were carried out, authorities said.
Ballistics tests on the latest bullet determined that it is one of at least eight to come from the same gun used in the deadly attack, authorities said.
The driver of the van at first thought a rock hit his windshield while he was driving on the I-71 highway on his way to Pennsylvania, authorities said. The driver later examined the windshield at home and realized a bullet could have caused a hole in the glass.
The damage was reported to Pennsylvania state police, who sent a bullet fragment taken from the dashboard to Columbus investigators.
Investigators believe the shot came from a highway overpass. The driver did not see anyone along the road, sheriff’s Chief Deputy Steve Martin said.
Meanwhile, authorities last week received calls from two men claiming to be the shooter. One caller said he would begin shooting at police officers. The other said he had shot a car that day on Interstate 71. No shootings were reported that day.
Investigators do not believe either of the callers were the sniper because they did not provide information that only the shooter would know, Martin said.