Two arrests reported in US sniper case

MARYLAND - Police detained two men in Maryland yesterday in connection with their desperate hunt for the serial sniper who has murdered 10 people at random in the Washington area.

The announcement raised hopes of progress in ending a three-week-old killing spree that has terrorised the usually tranquil suburbs around the capital. The sniper has also critically wounded three people, including a 13-year-old boy.

Maryland State Police spokesman Major Greg Shipley said a passing motorist had alerted authorities after noticing two men sleeping in a car that matched a description given out a few hours earlier by the multi-agency task force investigating the sniper shootings.


"Shortly after 3:30 this morning (8.30pm NZ time), a tactical response team arrested two individuals from that vehicle who were sleeping in the vehicle who were taken into custody without incident," Shipley told a pre-dawn news conference.


He said he could not confirm local media reports that one of the two was John Allen Muhammad, also known as John Allen Williams. "Attempts to verify their identities are being made right now," he said.


Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Chief Charles Moose, the head of the task force, had announced late yesterday, only about four hours before the arrest, that police were searching for Muhammad and an unidentified minor.


"We believe that Mr Muhammad may have information material to our investigation," he had said.


Moose also said police were looking for a burgundy or blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with New Jersey number plates.


The two men were found sleeping in the car, with number plates matching those given by the task force, along a highway in Frederick County, Maryland, about 80km northwest of Washington.


Shipley said the two men were African-Americans, one aged about 40 and the other about 20.


Moose had said Muhammad was believed to be traveling with an unidentified minor. Local media had said he was traveling with his 17-year-old stepson, described as a citizen of Jamaica.


Television reports said Muhammad had served in the US military at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma in Washington state.


FBI agents had searched a property in Tacoma on yesterday with metal detectors and other equipment, and made inquiries about two people who lived in Bellingham, another city in Washington state, until about nine months ago.


Shipley could not say whether weapons had been found, adding that a federal search warrant had been applied for that would allow police to scour the car.


Local and state police and federal agents had swooped down to arrest the two men, after cordoning off the area and closing off a 11km stretch of the normally busy highway for hours before dawn. Shipley said the two were taken without incident.


Moose had said Muhammad was charged with violations of federal firearms laws not related to the sniper killings that started on October 2.


"A strong word of caution. Do not assume that the allegation, do not assume from this allegation, that John Allen Muhammad, also known as John Allen Williams, is involved in any of the shootings we are investigating," he said.


The sniper has shot each of his victims with a single bullet, usually from a distance, and dodged police dragnets set up within minutes of the attacks. The 10 dead and three wounded have included blacks and whites, men and women, young and old.

- REUTERS

Further reading:
The Washington sniper

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