Madill man says he was questioned after photographing sniper shooting crime scene

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A Madill man says he was detained and questioned by federal agents after they saw him photographing a steakhouse parking lot believed to be the scene of the latest Washington,

Monday, October 21st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A Madill man says he was detained and questioned by federal agents after they saw him photographing a steakhouse parking lot believed to be the scene of the latest Washington, D.C.-area sniper shooting.

James Chapman, 44, said Sunday he, his wife, his daughter and son-in-law were returning Saturday from a trip to see the World Trade Center site in New York when traffic stopped near Ashland, Va. They then heard on their car radio that another shooting had happened. As police vehicles passed them, Chapman remembered something he had said last week as he prepared to visit his daughter in North Carolina where her husband is stationed at Fort Bragg.

``I told everybody then that I was going to get rid of that dadgummed killer 'cause I'm tired of him getting in the news,'' Chapman said. ``And here we end up in the middle of it.''

Chapman stopped in Ashland at a motel across the street from the Ponderosa steakhouse. The restaurant is where police think the sniper shot his 12th victim, a 37-year-old Virginia man who was in critical condition Sunday with a wound to his abdomen.

Chapman said he bought a disposable camera and began snapping photographs of what was happening at the steakhouse. He said it attracted the attention of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who approached him and searched him, his motel room and vehicle after learning that he was a retired postal worker.

``I said, 'Does my being a retired postal worker make me a suspect?''' Chapman said.

He said he was cleared after agents tracked his credit card number to confirm locations of where he said he'd been and made purchases.

He said he was released about 1 a.m. and allowed to keep the camera and film.

The Chapmans own Wholesale Mobile Homes in Kingston.

The interrogation could not be immediately confirmed with the FBI.