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Sniper
suspect an ex-Gulf war veteran
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WASHINGTON,
October 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Two men arrested in
connection with a sniper stalking the U.S. capital were not connected
with any group while living in Bellingham, on the U.S. West Coast,
police said Thursday October 24.
"I
can tell you that in the Bellingham area, and in relation to the case,
it appears that these people ... that have been taken into custody are
not acting ... with any group, or with any organized group of
people," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Bellingham Police Chief
Randy Carroll as telling reporters in a press conference televised
nationally.
"It
appears that they are, and have, acted on their own," he said.
Bellingham,
north of Seattle, was home to John Allen Muhammad, a 42-year-old
Afro-American also known as John Allen Williams, and his 17-year-old
stepson John Lee Malvo from 1994 until 2000, Carroll said.
The
pair were arrested Thursday northwest of Washington for questioning in
relation to the Washington-area sniper shootings that have so far killed
10 people.
Muhammad
is wanted on a firearms charge, police on the sniper task force said.
Carroll
said his department looked into Malvo's background when he applied to
attend a local high school, but was unable to confirm the information he
gave on his application form.
"We
lost contact with him and he moved on," Carroll said.
However,
Carroll could not confirm reports in the news media, citing
investigators, neighbors and others who knew them, that neither Malvo
nor his father, had expressed sympathies for any terrorist organization
or with terrorist attacks.
A
Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle was recovered from the vehicle impounded
during an overnight arrest of the two suspects, sources told CNN
Thursday.
Washington
radio station WTOP reported that a rifle, a scope and a tripod had been
recovered from the suspects' vehicle.
The
arrests were made under federal warrants -- for Muhammad on a firearms
charge from western Washington state, and for Malvo on a material
witness warrant out of Greenbelt, Maryland, stemming from the sniper
case.
Sniper
investigators were looking into a possible connection to a fatal
shooting at a liquor store in Montgomery, Alabama.
Montgomery
Police Chief John Wilson said Thursday that there were "some very
good similarities" between Malvo and a composite sketch of the
attacker in the September 21 shooting.
Authorities
claimed Thursday they had made a match between a fingerprint lifted from
the scene and Malvo.
But
Wilson said the weapon used in the Montgomery shooting is not the same
as used in the shootings in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of
Columbia.
The
Baltimore Sun reported that authorities were tipped to the
Alabama connection by a recent phone call believed to be from the
sniper, who said that investigators should "take him
seriously" and "check with the people in Montgomery," or
words to that effect.
Muhammad
and Malvo are being questioned in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the
string of deadly shootings began three weeks ago, and where the most
recent victim linked to the sniper was killed Tuesday, October 22.
They
were sleeping in a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice, which a motorist and
attendant recognized as matching the description of a vehicle
authorities were looking for - a blue or burgundy 1990 Chevrolet Caprice
with New Jersey license plate NDA 21Z.
"We
didn't actually see any police officers for a while, until they actually
stormed the parking lot where the vehicle was," said rest stop
attendant Larry Blank.
"There
were helicopters, police cars everywhere."
The
rest area is along a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 70 near
Myersville, Maryland, that had been shut down in a dragnet launched just
a few hours earlier by Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, the
head of the sniper task force.
President
George W. Bush was told Thursday morning that law enforcement officials
are confident the arrests of Muhammad and Malvo represent a significant
breakthrough, a senior administration official said.
A
source said the U.S. Marshals Service was able to connect the
Afro-American first suspect with the car and license plate through
information filed by officers from an October 8 traffic stop in
Baltimore, Maryland. He was sleeping in his car at the time.
The
officers were concerned that his driver's license was from Washington
state and the vehicle tag was from New Jersey.
A
State Department official said Thursday the department has no record of
having issued an immigrant or a non-immigrant U.S. visa to a John Malvo
from Jamaica.
Authorities
searched a duplex in Tacoma, Washington on Wednesday, October 23 and
left with a tree trunk apparently used for target practice.
Sources
said Muhammad once served at Fort Lewis, not far from the duplex.
Military
officials told CNN Muhammad was not trained as a sniper and was not in
the Special Forces, but had expertise in combat support missions.
North
of Tacoma near the Canadian border, the mayor of Bellingham, Washington
said the FBI and local police had searched Bellingham High School, where
Malvo reportedly attended school last year.
The
FBI is denying earlier reports that it conducted searches related to the
sniper investigation in Marion, Alabama.
Local
police had said the search centered on a site called "Ground Zero
USA" which specializes in special weapons and tactical training.
"We
have not searched Ground Zero," said Tim Munson, the special agent
in charge of the FBI field office in Mobile, Alabama.
"We
have no interest."
John
Allen Muhammad - A Profile
John
Allen Muhammad is a 42-year-old Gulf War veteran who converted to Islam
17 years ago, according to a CNN report .
The
6-foot, 1-inch Muhammad was a member of the U.S. military who was
stationed in the 1980s at Fort Lewis, Washington, about 15 miles from
Tacoma, and at the now-closed Fort Ord, near Monterey, California.
Felix
Strozier ran a martial arts school with Muhammad in Tacoma several years
ago and described him as a "pretty nice person."
At
first, Strozier said their relationship was fine, but he said they had a
falling out after Muhammad borrowed $500 from the school and never
repaid the debt.
The
school closed in 1998.
He
described Muhammad as a strong believer in Islam who attended the
Million Man March.
A
former neighbor of Muhammad's said he provided security at the march,
which was organized by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Nation
of Islam officials in Chicago had no immediate comment, CNN reported.
The
Seattle Times reported Thursday that Muhammad converted to Islam
after his first marriage ended in divorce.
The
Times quoted Carol Williams, his first wife and the mother of his
oldest son, as saying he converted to Islam 17 years ago, about the same
time he joined the Army.
Williams
told the Times that Muhammad was outgoing and had a good sense of
humor. "He wasn't a quiet type. He liked to talk. He liked to
mingle with people," she said.
Muhammad
had four children by two marriages that ended in divorce, Times
added.
Both
involved bitter custody battles, the Times reported, but court
records showed no felony record for him in Washington state.
Federal
sources told Seattle Times that Muhammad and Malvo were allegedly
known to speak sympathetically about the 9/11 hijackers and may have
been motivated by anti-American sentiment.
But
Strozier ruled it out. Asked if Muhammad had ever expressed
anti-American beliefs to him, Strozier said no.
In
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sheila Tezando, Muhammad's sister-in-law, said
she last saw Muhammad and Malvo three months ago at her home in Baton
Rouge when they were in town for a visit.
Tezando
said that there was nothing in their demeanor that would lead her to
believe that they were capable of any violent act.
"This
is all a shock," she said.
