Teen arrested in sniper shooting

An Indiana teenager was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the sniper attacks that put the state on high alert this weekend.\nZachariah "Zach" Blanton, 17, of Gaston, Ind., allegedly confessed to the shootings that occurred on major highways in Delaware and Jackson Counties early Sunday morning, killing one man and injuring another. Both shootings occurred in the Seymour and Redkey areas of Interstates 65 and 69.\nWednesday, Blanton pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder and three counts of criminal recklessness with a firearm at the Jackson County Courthouse. Circuit Judge William Vance set a tentative date of Dec. 13 for his trial.\nAuthorities in Delaware County also charged Blanton's grandmother, Patricia Blanton, 58, with whom the teen lived, with obstruction of justice Tuesday, Indiana Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten told the Associated Press. Police discovered a Remington rifle, which fires a .270 caliber round, in their home, and believe it was the one used in the shootings.\nJackson County Prosecutor Stephen Pierson told the press he had not yet decided whether to pursue the death penalty, but would make that decision by Oct. 13, the next court date set for Blanton.\nChronology of Events\nThe Seymour sniper shooting occurred at about 12:20 a.m. Sunday. Pierson told the press that Blanton had argued with his family during a hunting trip Saturday night near Kossuth, Ind., 20 miles south of Seymour. After the argument, police say Blanton drove to an overpass stretching across I-65 and shot at two passing trucks. Bullets came through the windshield of a Chevrolet pickup carrying three people, one of whom was passenger Jerry L. Ross, 40, of New Albany, who was killed by the shot.\nAround the same time, police received a 911 call from a passenger in a Dodge Ram truck traveling southbound. The passenger in that truck, Robert John Otto Hartl, 25, of Audubon, Iowa, was grazed on the head by a bullet. He was treated at a local hospital, released and returned to Iowa. \n"He was familiar with the Seymour area, which would explain how he was able to perpetrate from that overpass because it requires a certain knowledge of the lay of the land to get there," State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell said at a Tuesday news conference.\nAfter shooting at the vehicles on I-65, Blanton drove toward his home in Gaston, approximately 100 miles north of Seymour. At about 2:30 a.m. he stopped in the Redkey area and shot at a moving tractor trailer on I-69. Trucker Richard G. Greek, 57, of Kunkle, Ohio, reported the incident to local police after realizing the repetitive bangs on his rig were gunfire. He was not injured. \nAn unoccupied parked sports utility vehicle was hit about an hour later in the same area after a gas station clerk heard gunfire and discovered the vehicle had been hit.\nPolice launched an intensive search along both major Indiana highways this week, scouring hundreds of miles of highway with police dogs and helicopters for evidence. \nState police closed in on Blanton after receiving information through the state police tip line, beginning an "intensive investigation of (his) activities and physical location during the time frame of the shootings," Indiana State Police said. They said the tips that led to Blanton's arrest were a direct result of the media coverage surrounding the shootings. \nVarious city police departments and state offices, along with the FBI and Gov. Mitch Daniels, assisted in the investigation.\nCopy-Cat Sniper?\nA copy-cat sniper has been reported on the loose in Hammond, Ind., according to various news reports.\nDarwin Burkhardt, 47, told Hammond police that a white man wearing a trench coat attacked his vehicle as he drove east on 169th Avenue Wednesday morning at around 7 a.m. The man pulled a long gun from under his coat and shot at him in his truck, Burkhardt told police. The bullet passed harmlessly through the pickup truck's window.\nPolice have not located the suspect.