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John
Allen Muhammad, also known as John Allen Williams
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WASHINGTON,
October 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Police in Maryland have
made two arrests at a rest stop off a highway in Maryland in connection
to the Washington-area sniper case, CNN television said early Thursday,
October 24, quoting reliable sources listening to police scanners.
At
least two people were arrested near Middletown, Maryland, some 80
kilometers (50 miles) northwest of here, CNN said.
There
was no information as to the identity of the people arrested or whether
they were related to the man for whom Montgomery County Police Chief
Charles Moose late Wednesday, October 23, said an arrest warrant had
been issued for firearms violations.
Maryland
police was expected to hold a press conference shortly, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
area around Interstate 70, near where the multiple arrests took place,
is under police control with helicopters buzzing overhead, CNN said. A
11-kilometer (seven-mile) stretch of the highway has been closed to
traffic, the sources added.
Meanwhile,
as the probe into the sniper murders moved Thursday to the states of
Washington, where a house was searched, and to Alabama, where a woman
was shot and killed in September, police issued an arrest warrant for a
man sought for questioning in the case.
Montgomery
County’s police chief Charles Moose late Wednesday announced that an
arrest warrant has been issued for a man for firearms violations
unrelated to the sniper case, but who was sought for questioning in the
case.
He
was identified as John Allen Muhammad, also known as John Allen
Williams, a black male 42 years of age, approximately six feet one inch
(1.85 meters) tall and about 180 pounds (80 kilos). CNN said he was a
Gulf War veteran.
Moose
said Williams may be accompanied by a juvenile, his step-son, and
traveling in a blue and burgundy Chevrolet sedan with New Jersey license
plates.
The
suspect, Moose said was to be considered “armed and dangerous,” but
stressed that the charge of “alleged violation of federal firearms
laws,” were not related to the sniper shootings. However, he added,
“we believe Mr. Muhammad may have information related to our
investigation.”
As
in previous days, Moose addressed the sniper directly, asking the news
media “to carry the message accurately and often.”
“We
understand that you communicated with us by calling several different
locations. Our inability to talk has been a concern for us as it has
been for you. You have indicated that you want us to do and say certain
things.
“You’ve
asked us to say: ‘We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.’
We understand that hearing us say this is important to you.”
Moose
once again mentioned the difficulty police were having in understanding
the sniper’s “notes, indirect messages and calls,” adding that the
“solution remains to call us and get a private toll-free number just
for you.”
Moose
gave a post office box in Maryland where the sniper could contact police
and said: “If you are reluctant to contact us, be assured that we are
ready to talk directly to you.
“Our
word is our bond,” said Moose, who heads the investigation task force
that includes Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agents.
A
photograph of Williams may be downloaded at www.atf.treas.gov,
Moose said.
Meanwhile,
local and federal law enforcement officials dug up the garden of a house
in Tacoma, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) south of Seattle, Washington
state, with neighbors saying that a tree stump and other evidence was
removed.
Experts
speculated the tree stump could have been used for target practice.
Neighbors reported hearing frequent gunfire coming from the house in
December and January when it was occupied by a previous owner.
Local
news reports said the sniper stalking the nation’s capital or someone
involved in the case may have lived in the duplex house at some point.
In
Tacoma, FBI spokeswoman Melissa Mallon was tight-lipped about the probe,
saying only that the search was carried out by FBI and federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents with the agreement of the house’s
tenants.
“This
is a consensual search of the perimeter of the house” not of its
current residents, said Mallon, declining however to confirm or deny
that the search was linked to the sniper manhunt.
Reports
said that at least one previous resident of the home was a former
soldier from the nearby Fort Lewis U.S. army base, which is home to
21,000 troops.
Tacoma
is a major military center and also is home to an air force base and a
navy base. Many people who live near the suspect house in the rough
neighborhood are low-ranking military personnel.
Fort
Lewis spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Piek said the FBI had asked
the base to cooperate in its investigation, but could not confirm the
house under search had been occupied by a former soldier.
Media
reports early Thursday indicated that investigators were also seeking a
possible connection between the Washington sniper and the fatal shooting
of a woman in the state of Alabama in late September.
The
52-year-old woman was killed September 21 outside the state liquor store
she worked in Montgomery, Alabama, and another 24-year-old woman was
also shot and wounded, CNN said quoting law enforcement officials.
Police
in Alabama are looking for a black male suspect between 1.72 and 1.78
meters in height (68-70 inches), CNN said.
Federal
law enforcement officials believe there is a connection and the sniper
murders in the Washington area - where ten people have been killed and
three have been wounded since October 2, CNN said.
On
Wednesday, police confirmed that a 35-year-old bus driver shot Tuesday,
October 22, was the sniper’s 10th fatal victim after examining
ballistic evidence.
Federal
immigration authorities were assisting the investigation, offering
resident visa status to immigrants with information leading to the
arrest and conviction of the sniper.
Moose
specifically asked members of the immigrant community whom he said might
have witnessed the killing of the bus driver.
