Posted on 10/24/2002 2:00:06 AM PDT by HAL9000
Investigators probe possible sniper link to Alabama liquor store
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Federal authorities are investigating whether a fatal shooting in Montgomery last September is linked to the sniper shootings in the Washington area, the mayor said.
Mayor Bobby Bright said a caller to the sniper investigation tip line apparently claimed responsibility for both the sniper shootings and the Sept. 21 shooting outside a state liquor store.
He said investigators asked for files on the shooting and evidence, including a bullet found at the scene, and local authorities complied.
"We are fully cooperating, but we have no verification that anything here is related to the crimes in Montgomery County, Md.,'' Bright said.
The FBI in Mobile declined to comment on the mayor's remarks. Montgomery police also declined comment.
Earlier Wednesday in Maryland, police issued an arrest warrant for John Allen Muhammad on a federal weapons charge and said they wanted to question him about the sniper shootings. Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Charles Moose said Muhammad may be traveling with a juvenile, identified by a law enforcement source as 17-year-old Lee Malvo.
The (Baltimore) Sun reported Thursday that Muhammad and Malvo have been linked to the sniper killings through a fingerprint traced to the Montgomery shooting.
A piece of paper found at the Montgomery scene bore Malvo's fingerprints, the newspaper reported, citing a source it did not identify.
In the Montgomery shooting, Claudine Parker, 52, and Kellie Adams, 24, were locking up the liquor store for the night Sept. 21 when they were shot. Parker was killed and Adams seriously injured.
Adams said her back was to the street when a single shot struck her just below the base of her skull. She said the gunman had not approached them.
"I never saw a face. I never said him, period,'' Adams told the Montgomery Advertiser, adding that police contacted her late Wednesday about a possible connection to the sniper shootings.
No one has been arrested in the case. Earlier, police had said that the shootings occurred during an apparent robbery attempt.
Police Chief John Wilson said his department was cooperating with the sniper task force but told the newspaper that the two women were not shot with the same caliber bullet used by the sniper.
Bright said the caller to the tip line told authorities to contact Montgomery authorities if they didn't believe he was responsible for the sniper shootings, which began Oct. 2 in several Washington suburbs.
Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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