By Anna Chang
The Associated Press
and The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS - Authorities have linked 12 shootings along a five-mile stretch of interstate, including one that killed a woman and another that broke a window at an elementary school.

Four of the shootings - three at vehicles and one at the school last month - were from the same gun, Franklin County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Steve Martin said Tuesday.

Although ballistics tests could not link the rest of the shootings along Interstate 270, investigators said they "are comfortable" saying all 12 are connected, he said. He would not elaborate.

Authorities have received more than 500 tips, but would not speculate about who the shooter might be and would not release the type of weapon.

"We think it's not good for us to put that information out," Martin said. "We don't want people to stop calling us because we put out that kind of information."

The shootings began in May along Interstate 270, the freeway that circles Columbus. Many were not reported until after Nov. 25, when 62-year-old Gail Knisley of Washington Court House was killed by a bullet that pierced the side of a car driven by a friend.

A house was shot at Tuesday near the freeway, but Martin said investigators have not linked it to the other shootings.

The latest shooting linked to the spree was a Nov. 11 shooting at Hamilton Central Elementary in Obetz, about two miles from the freeway.

A large piece of farmland faces the front of the school, which has homes nearby. A cemetery is on one side of the school building, and a high school is on the other.

Superintendent Bill Wittman said he believes the shooting was not meant to harm anyone, since it happened overnight, but nervous parents expressed concern.

Tiffany Ellis, 32, said her son's second-grade classroom faces the front of the school, where the bullet struck.

"It makes me angry, to be honest with you, that I have to drive down the road worrying about getting shot," Ellis said Tuesday.

She said she plans to call today to see what precautions the district is taking, and may avoid her own living room, which also faces the two-lane road.

"That's kind of scary to think someone could shoot through your window like that," Ellis said.

Greg Mellon said his 8-year-old son "ducked down in the car" on the way to his recreation-league basketball practice at the school Tuesday night.

"Of course he's thinking about it," Mellon said.

Jimmy Eggers said he took his 8-year-old son to basketball practice despite being nervous about the shootings.

"It's scary, because you've got kids running around here, but it's hard to stop your daily routine," he said. It's definitely scary. You fear for your kid's life."

Local businesses have established a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The weapon that was used to kill Knisley was linked to shootings of two other vehicles and the shooting at the school, Martin said.

On Oct. 19, the driver's-side window of a tractor-trailer was shattered by a bullet around 11:30 p.m. On Nov. 21, a minivan was hit.

Martin said investigators are not relying on a profile of a suspect and are exploring all possibilities.

Many motorists from Cincinnati traveling north on I-71 are accustomed to using I-270 to avoid downtown Columbus and connect to other interstates.

Tony Lanza, of Delhi Township, along with more than 10,000 Elder fans, traveled through Columbus Saturday morning on the way to Canton for the state championship football game.

He and many others avoided I-270.

"Last year, a lot of people took 270 to get there," Lanza said. "We told (our in-laws, who drove that route last year) to go a different way. Most of the Elder fans did."

Lanza knows the fear associated with a random sniper-like shooter on the loose. A year ago, he put off a business trip to Washington, D.C., when snipers were terrorizing residents there.

He said Elder fans he knew weren't too worried about the I-270 shootings, but they were definitely aware of them.

"It's such a random thing," he said.

"You never think it'll be you, but you just don't want to be that one person."

Enquirer reporter Reid Forgrave contributed to this report.