WILMINGTON - The FBI has declared two weekend shootouts with police in this small Clinton County farm town an act of ''domestic violence'' and joined the manhunt for the men involved.
Authorities are searching for two suspects who fled after shooting at police in separate incidents Saturday after the Chevrolet Suburban they were driving was stopped for a registration violation on Ohio 73, about 45 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
The FBI stepped in with the ''domestic terrorism'' classification because authorities suspect the gunmen have connections to militia groups or other anti-government organizations, said Steve Kosky, an FBI media representative in the Cincinnati office. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also has joined the investigation.
''In these cases, if you have a group or an association of people who may or may not be involved in activities like trying to overthrow the federal government, that's a classification you can use,'' Mr. Kosky said.
The classification doesn't give the FBI any additional authority or powers, but was necessary for agents to help local law enforcement investigate the crime, Mr. Kosky said. He declined to elaborate on what kind of help his office is giving.
''The especially hard thing for local police departments is to find evidence and get cooperation from people in other states,'' Mr. Kosky said. ''We can get it with a phone call.''
Police found at least one AR-15 military-style assault weapon in the abandoned Chevy Suburban. Authorities say the vehicle may belong to Sean Michael Haines, 19, of Spokane, Wash., listed in court documents as the ''youth leader of the Aryan Nation white separatist group'' in Spokane.
Mr. Haines was arrested two months ago in Sioux Falls, S.D., and charged with having a rifle stolen from one of the victims in an Arkansas triple slaying last year.
Police also are looking for Jacob Myron Settle, 39, and a man identified only as for questioning in connection with the shootout.
''Obviously, these guys are dangerous,'' said Pope County, Ark., Sheriff Jay Winters, who is waiting for evidence police gather here. ''Law enforcement wants to do anything to get these guys picked up because they were so willing and able to open fire.''
The Anti-Defamation League in Columbus suspects the gunmen were in Ohio to join the Clinton County chapter of the Aryan Nation for a march Sunday in Columbus.
The Ohio chapter of Aryan Nation sponsored the Statehouse rally to protest Black History Month, which is February. About 40 members of the Aryan Nation and the Ku Klux Klan attended the rally, along with about 300 counter-demonstrators who drowned out the white-supremacist speakers.
Alan Katchen, head of the Columbus Anti-Defamation League, said it was ''too much of a coincidence'' that people with potential links to the Aryan Nation in the Pacific Northwest were in Clinton County the day before the demonstration.
But about 12 miles from Wilmington in Clinton County's New Vienna, Aryan Nation state leader Harold ''Ray'' Redfeairn laughed at the connection made between the gunmen and his group.
''It kind of amuses me,'' said the Rev. Mr. Redfeairn, 44, pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. ''If we wanted the attention, we have ways of getting it on our own.''
He said he heard about the shootouts but never heard of the suspects and didn't recognize them in a police-car video he saw on television.
''They look like a couple of skinheads,'' the Rev. Mr. Redfeairn said. ''If they were in fact Aryan Nation and involved in the Arkansas deaths, they'd be well advised to turn themselves in to police before they get to us. What the Aryan Nation stands for is white families and white children - not killing white families.''
The mystery behind the shootout is the talk of Wilmington, population 11,200 where a nickel still buys an hour in the parking meters. The site of the first shooting is fairly busy with such businesses as Domino's Pizza and Crispie Creme Donuts.
''Everybody who comes in is talking about it,'' said Melissa Graesser, who was making pastries at Crispy Creme Saturday when she heard sirens. ''This is a quiet town, nothing much ever happens here.''
Just outside downtown Wilmington, Frank Marsden, 56, was back home Monday after unwittingly becoming part of the weekend adventure.
He was in his truck with his wife and son, going out for a belated Valentine's Day lunch, when a shot directed at a Wilmington police officer hit him in the left shoulder.
He tried to go back to work Monday as a bricklayer, but
co-workers sent him home.
''I just don't want to give in to myself,'' he said. ''It happened so fast, I didn't give it much thought. When I think back at it, I just feel bad for my wife. It could have hit her. It could have hit me in the head.''
His wife, Mary, 57, said she won't have peace of mind until the gunmen are captured.
''It scares the daylights out of me,'' she said. ''They may not even be here now, but to me, it's scary whether they're here or not.''
Ben L. Kaufman, Lucy May and Tom O'Neill contributed to this story.
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SHOOTOUT MAY BE LINKED TO KILLINGS Feb. 17, 1997
