Bullet Fragments Analyzed in Rhode Island Search for Sniper

NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. — Police officials said Friday they have sent bullet fragments for FBI analysis and devised a plan they hope will snare a sniper who has wounded four people in a monthlong spree on the Rhode Island-Massachusetts border.

“We don’t have anything solid,” State Police Capt. Michael Urso said of the latest shooting, which wounded a man Thursday night. “We checked out a car that was seen near the scene, but there’s no connection.”

An employee of a North Smithfield group home for the mentally retarded was wounded in the back by one of two bullets fired through a kitchen window. Alan Gorden, 36, of Cranston, was listed in fair condition in the intensive-care unit of a local hospital.

Fragments Sent to Lab

Bullet fragments found at the scene were sent to the FBI laboratory in Washington for analysis.

Despite dozens of tips from the public, interviews with potential suspects and beefed-up patrols, the gunman, who has wounded four people in 11 attacks since Dec. 8, continued to elude investigators.

The area of the sniper attacks is about 35 miles southwest of Boston.

“It’s been very frustrating,” said Detective Bernard Hughes of Cumberland, who has devised a plan to close roads once a shooting is reported.

“We plan to get together with North Smithfield and some other towns to see about extending it to their areas,” said Hughes, who declined to detail Cumberland’s plan to catch the sniper.

Five-Mile Radius

All of the attacks involved .22-caliber weapons and have occurred within a five-mile radius. Seven shootings, including the last three, have occurred in North Smithfield and two each in nearby Cumberland and Bellingham, Mass.

Investigators believe the shootings are the work of one person, although they have not ruled out the possibility of several publicity-seeking imitators.