Witnesses to 9th Sniper Killing Give Clues

Oct. 15 -- Police are hopeful that clues gleaned from witnesses to the fatal shooting of an FBI employee outside a Home Depot store in Virginia will help them find the sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for two weeks.

Linda Franklin, 47, of Arlington, Va., was shot once in the head Monday at about 9:15 p.m. as she and her husband loaded packages into their convertible in the parking lot of the Seven Corners Shopping Center in Falls Church.

Witnesses reported seeing a cream-colored Chevrolet Astro van leaving the scene, similar to composite sketches police released today of a white van with roof racks that witnesses sawafter Friday's sniper slaying of a man at a gas station nearFredericksburg, Va.

The sketches depict a Chevrolet Astro and a Ford Econo Van with ladder racks on top. Members of the public, including local residents who drive vans similar to those in the sketches, are asked to call (888) 324-9800, the toll-free tipline set up for the sniper investigation, with any information about vans that resemble the composites.

(Click here to receive major updates on the sniper shootings.)

Using ballistic evidence, officials conclusively linked Franklin's death to the sniper attacks that have left eight others dead and two seriously injured since Oct. 2 in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Franklin, an analyst at the FBI headquarters' cybercrimes division and mother of two grown children, did not work on the sniper probe and was not believed to have been targeted because of her job, said Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Charles Moose, who has been leading the sniper investigation.

Franklin and her husband, who was not injured, planned to move into a new home this week and were buying supplies at Home Depot.

In a statement, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller praised Franklin's work for the agency and expressed shock and anger at her death.

"I am confident that our investigative team will find the killer and stop the senseless murders that have devastated the families of 11 victims and paralyzed the Washington area with fear," Mueller said.