Last sniper victim memorialized

Community joins together to clean up park, plant tree in honor of Conrad Johnson

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Chris Rossi⁄The Gazette The community gathers to plant a tree in honor of bus driver Conrad Johnson, who fell victim to the snipers on Oct. 22, 2002. The event was held May 17 in North Gate Park in Aspen Hill. Taking part in the ceremony are Jane Wilde of the Montgomery County Conservation Corps, county Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Romer, Lillian Cruz of U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr.’s office, Gordon Lambourne of Marriott International, Elvin Tobin of Ride On and Connie Caldwell of the Mid-County Neighborhood Initiative.

The shot that killed Ride On bus driver Conrad E. Johnson, 35, of Oxon Hill as he stood on the steps of his parked vehicle came from North Gate Park during the early-morning hours of Oct. 22, 2002.

Located near Connecticut Avenue in Aspen Hill, the park was rundown and overgrown at that point, affording cover for the sniper.

Hit in the chest at the bus stop on Grand Pre Road, Johnson succumbed to his wounds after being taken to the hospital.

Area residents, Ride On co-workers who knew Johnson and volunteers who helped clean the park on May 17 attended a tree-planting ceremony that afternoon, just yards from where the sniper took aim.

‘‘He was my best friend,” said Ride On bus driver James Snow, with tears in his eyes as he recalled Johnson. ‘‘To see all of this going on, it makes me feel now they appreciate the loss of one of our loved ones.”

Beneath the red bud sapling is a plaque dedicating the cleanup effort to Johnson. Names of members of the Montgomery County Conservation Corps, employees from Marriott International and members of C-SAFE (Collaborative Supervised and Focused Enforcement) appear on the plaque. Cleanup equipment and labor was supplied by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

It’s about time Johnson got the attention he deserved, said Daisy Hamlett, an Aspen Hill resident who served on the Mid-County Neighborhood Initiative’s National Night Out Against Crime committee and pushed for a memorial to the park.

Hamlett said she was angry to see the shooting go ignored while other sniper victims were memorialized.

‘‘It means a lot,” she said, looking at the freshly planted sapling. ‘‘It means that someone recognizes our community.”

Two years after the shooting, the Mid-County Neighborhood Initiative’s National Night Out Against Crime committee initiated a cleanup project at the park.

Overgrowth was cleared and new playground equipment, benches and picnic tables were installed.

The Conservation Corps cleared another section of the park in February.

Last week’s cleanup included about 10 corps members and more than 40 Marriott employees who were participating in the company’s annual Spirit to Serve Our Communities Day. About three acres were cleared, easing sight lines for patrolling police officers.

The increased visibility is a welcome solution to crime problems that included drug deals in the park, said Thomas Hardman, an Aspen Hill resident active in cleanup efforts.

Residents have said they were unwilling to walk through the wooded footpath that circles the park because they were not sure if it was safe.

‘‘The place was pretty much a den of thieves for the last 20 years,” Hardman said.

By the end of the five-hour cleanup, the focus was on the last sniper victim to fall.

With the trial in the news several participants recalled the fear they felt following the sniper attack at the bus stop.

‘‘It just takes you back to that day when everybody was just so terrified,” longtime Aspen Hill resident Lily Rainey said. ‘‘You could not comprehend. As a resident, we were scared to leave our homes and frightened.”

Others told of the loss of a co-worker.

‘‘There’s not a day that goes by that his name is not mentioned,” Elvin Tobin, chief of the Silver Spring⁄Bethesda Ride On division, said. ‘‘And that speaks for him. He was well liked. He was well loved.”