ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Saturday Morning News

Federal Charges Filed Against White House Gunman

Aired February 10, 2001 - 7:11 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Federal prosecutors have filed charges against Robert Pickett. He's that alleged gunman who fired shots outside the White House this week.

CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The charge, coming two days after the White House shooting, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

If convicted, Robert Pickett would face 10 years in a federal prison. Pickett remains in a Washington hospital. He'll be appointed an attorney unless he hires one himself and is expected to undergo further psychiatric evaluation.

ERIC DUBLIER, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: The proper course of action for the government right now is to make sure that this individual is detained long enough to determine what his intent was. And if it turns out that he was mentally ill and not competent and insane at the time of this offense, that the criminal justice system then creates a vehicle by which you can get mandatory mental health treatment for him.

ARENA: An affidavit submitted with the formal charge reveals new details about what happened along the White House fence. According to law enforcement officials, Pickett fired two shots from his .38 caliber revolver. When told to drop the gun, he instead pointed it at Secret Service emergency response team officers. One officer says when he heard Pickett's gun click, he fired a single shot, hitting him in the knee.

(on camera): Pickett's motives are still unclear, but what's called the suicide by cop theory is gaining momentum among law enforcement.

(voice-over): That's because it's looking more like Pickett did not expect to survive his trip to the nation's capital.

Sources tell CNN a will was found in Pickett's Indiana home, and at his office. He also left a suicide note in his car, which was impounded by Washington-area police. And in a letter mailed last week to his former employer, the IRS, and sent to newspapers, Pickett wrote, "My death is on your hands."

Pickett remains under arrest at the hospital in custody of federal officials.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top