Fears another sniper on the loose after shootings

FEARS that another sniper was on the loose in America were fuelled yesterday after police said 10 motorists had reported being fired at on a stretch of road where a woman was shot dead.

Gail Knisley, 62, was killed when a bullet ripped through the door of the car she was in on Tuesday morning.

Police said yesterday they had now confirmed a total of 10 possible shooting incidents on the same interstate just south of Columbus in Ohio.

One of them happened just hours after Ms Knisley’s killing. The first suspected shooting on the stretch of the I-270 happened in May.

Since Ms Knisley’s death more people have contacted police fearing they were also targeted, said Franklin County sheriff department.

One of the people who contacted police was a woman whose tyre went flat as she drove along the road.

When she took it to a garage for repair she was told a bullet had done the damage.

The mystery comes just days after Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad was recommended for the death penalty by a jury.

The 42-year-old army veteran was convicted after being tried for one of the 10 killings which terrorised the Washington area last Autumn.

Alleged accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo is still on trial over the three-week long killing spree. Despite the numerous shootings on the stretch of road in Ohio the sheriff’s department has yet to link them.

A spokesman said he was not ready to conclude that the shots had been fired by a single sniper.

Nearby woods are frequently used by hunters and people who practice target firing, meaning that the shootings could be a series of freak accidents. Extra police are now patrolling the area.