ROCKVILLE, Md, 25 October — A Gulf War veteran and a teenager were arrested yesterday in the sniper case that has terrorized the Washington area, as investigators fanned out across the country to search for evidence. The two were arrested around 3:30 a.m. in Maryland, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Washington, as they slept in a car that matched a description given by police investigating the shootings.
Government sources identified the men as former US soldier John Allen Muhammad, who served in the 1991 Gulf War, and John Lee Malvo, 17. Media reports said Malvo was Muhammad’s stepson. The two were not immediately charged in the sniper case, although Muhammad was charged with violating US gun laws.
However, law enforcement officials were working on the presumption that these were suspects in the shooting attacks that killed 10 people and injured three in Maryland, Virginia and the US capital since Oct. 2.
A rifle was found in the car where the two were arrested in rural Maryland, a law enforcement source said. Media reports said the rifle fired .223 caliber bullets, which were the same kind of ammunition used on the sniper’s victims.
"We’re keeping our fingers crossed," a Justice Department official said when asked if the men in custody were believed to be the snipers. Another official said: "We are being very very cautious about this. But it certainly looks good. We’re optimistic."
US President George W. Bush was briefed on the dramatic overnight developments and was told "there are a lot of arrows pointing" to them as responsible for the sniper attacks, according to an official traveling with the president in North Carolina.
But spokesman Ari Fleischer said in receiving the "latest facts" in the case, the White House was given no conclusion.
Douglas Gansler, the state’s attorney in Montgomery County, told WTOP radio: "There’s a strong feeling these people are related to the sniper shootings." Asked if he believed the sniper was still at large, Gansler said, "No."
Law officers were pursuing leads in Alabama, where Malvo was linked to a robbery and murder outside a liquor store on Sept. 21, and in Washington state, near where Muhammad had been stationed during his military career and where both detainees were known to be living earlier this year.
