06272001 - NEWS - Woman killed by sniper’s bullet at zoo

Woman killed by sniper’s bullet at zoo
The Repository
Canton, OH
Wednesday, June 27, 2001

LANSING, Mich. — As Bernita White and her daughter walked toward a ticket booth at the city zoo , the state trooper’s wife was cut down by a rifle bullet fired from more than 100 yards away.

On Tuesday, who fired the deadly shot and why remained a mystery.

"It’s a tough case," Lansing police Lt. Ray Hall said.

Witnesses told police that one or two shots came from the woods at Potter Park Zoo, but no one saw the shooter.

The lawyer for Ms. White’s husband acknowledged his client is under investigation but insisted he was not involved.

Ms. White , 41, a computer systems analyst, had filed for divorce a month ago, but the couple were still living together in suburban Lansing .

"Mr. White is adamant that he had nothing to do with it," attorney David Clark said.

Seven hours after the slaying Saturday, police informed Ms. White’s mother of the killing. Barbara Sims, 67, of Detroit, went into cardiac arrest and died.

The bullet, which struck Ms. White in the heart and exited her side, has not been found.

Hall said authorities have ruled out the possibility that the bullet had been fired randomly into the air. Based on the bullet’s trajectory, someone meant to shoot the woman, he said.

Police have questioned 20 people, including Ms. White’s husband, Artis White , a detective sergeant with the state police.

He and his wife were in the park with their 5-year-old daughter when the trooper left to pick up their other daughter, 7, who was at another park . He returned about an hour later to find his wife dead, Hall said.