Police Check Tips About Future Highway Shootings

INDIANAPOLIS -- State police said Monday evening that they had received more than 50 tips regarding Indiana interstate highway shootings that killed one person and injured another early Sunday, including information that more shootings could come.

Some tips involved information that more shootings could happen in northeastern and southern Indiana, and authorities in those areas have been notified, Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten told reporters.

However, Bursten added, investigators don't know whether those tips are reliable, and he said he doesn't know whether anyone involved in Sunday's shootings has tried to contact police.

"But we have to treat each and every call as if it's valid," Bursten said.

Bursten warned that anyone found to give false tips will be prosecuted.

Police have increased patrols on interstates throughout Indiana as investigators try to determine who fired shots at vehicles on I-65 in southern Indiana's Jackson County and on I-69 in east-central Indiana's Delaware County early Sunday.

Jerry L. Ross, 40, of New Albany, was fatally shot at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday as he was driving a pickup on I-65 at mile marker 52. Moments later, a bullet grazed the ear of Robert John Otto Hartl, 25, of Iowa, as he was driving a pickup truck on the highway. Hartl was not seriously injured.

About two hours later, police said, someone shot at a tractor-trailer and a parked, empty sport utility vehicle on I-69 in Delaware County. No injuries were reported in the I-69 shootings.

Bursten said state police didn't know whether the I-65 and I-69 shootings were related, but the agency was treating the incidents as if they were. He said it was feasible to drive between the two shooting sites in two hours.

Police Talk With Authorities Who Probed Ohio Highway Shootings

Hoping to learn lessons from a previous highway shooting investigation, state police met with Ohio law enforcement personnel who probed sniper shootings on I-270 in late 2004 and early 2005, Bursten said.

More than 5,000 tips came before one led to an arrest in that case, Bursten said.

"It was tip number 5,444 for the Ohio officials that resulted in an arrest. If we have to go through that many, so be it. If we have to go through 10,888 to get to the person, that's what we're going to do as well," Bursten said.

Bursten said one of the most valuable things to come from the meeting with Ohio authorities was insight into how they balanced the need to give the public information about the probe and the need to be cautious about giving too much information to the shooter or shooters, who might watch media coverage.

Bursten declined to comment on a newspaper report that someone in Jackson County had found shell casings near I-65. He said he wouldn't confirm or deny anything about evidence in the case.

Earlier, a different state police spokesman said investigators had recovered at least one bullet or a fragment of one.

Police Ask Public To Be Observant

Police said they were trying to determine whether the shots in Jackson County came from an overpass or from a hilly area near I-65.

Officials have installed signs on highways asking people to watch for unusual activity on overpasses. Bursten said anyone noticing suspicious activity can call the state police tip line at (800) 622-4962.

"Life goes on. We cannot allow the actions of one or two people ... to ruin our lives," Bursten said. "Continue to be observant. Go about your business ... with a little extra awareness."

Bursten also repeated earlier police pleas to businesses along I-65 and I-69, asking them to look at their security videos recorded Saturday and Sunday in the hope that someone involved in the shootings was caught on tape. If anyone notices anything suspicious, they should contact police, Bursten said.