COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Officials at an elementary school hit by a bullet last month are keeping students inside for recess this week after authorities linked the shooting to 11 others along a five-mile stretch of interstate, the superintendent said Wednesday.\nParents held their children's hands as they walked past police officers into Hamilton Central Elementary on Wednesday. Police announced Tuesday they had linked the shootings, including one that killed a woman.\nSuperintendent Bill Wittman said he believes the shooting at the school was not meant to harm anyone because it happened overnight, but parents were nervous.\nMichelle Maupin broke from routine and drove her daughter to school Wednesday. "We didn't put her on the bus because we felt it was too big of a target for whoever is doing this," she said.\nAt least 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 believe all 12 are connected, he said.\n"We actually have 12 now with the school, and we're comfortable collectively that those 12 are linked," Martin said. He would not elaborate.\nAuthorities have received more than 500 tips, but would not speculate about who might be responsible and would not release the type of weapon.\n"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."\nThe 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 was killed by a bullet that pierced the side of a car driven by a friend.\nHamilton Central Elementary in Obetz, about two miles from the freeway, was hit Nov. 11. Local businesses have established a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.\nThe school sits along a rural road lined with pastures, three schools, a church and houses decorated with Christmas lights.\nCustomers at Hamilton General Store a half-mile from the school already had been sharing alternate driving routes, and Tuesday's news increased their fears, owner Beverly Evans said.\n"People are trying to figure out how to stay off 270, but now people aren't sure if that will keep us safe," Evans said.\nTiffany Ellis, 32, said her son's second-grade classroom faces the front of the school, where the bullet struck.\n"It makes me angry to be honest with you, that I have to drive down the road worrying about getting shot," Ellis said.\nAt a gas station along the interstate about two miles from the school, emotions ranged from skittish to calm among drivers stopping to fill up.\n"The odds are you're not going to get shot," said Tom Dixon, 56.\nRichard Bailey, 32, disagreed. He uses I-270 each day to get to his job as a shipping manager at Rickenbacker Airport.\nMeanwhile, a driver and passenger were shot and wounded Tuesday while traveling on the Ohio Turnpike in Milan, about 90 miles north of Columbus. The driver was hospitalized in critical condition with a head wound, and the passenger was treated for a hand wound.
Trooper Brian Hann said Wednesday that one person was in custody but no charges had been filed. Authorities would not say if they believed there was any link to the shootings near Columbus.\nAlso Tuesday, a house was shot at near the freeway around Columbus, but Martin said investigators have not linked it to the other shootings.
