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Sniper rifle used in killing in Alabama, tests confirm

By Allan Lengel
The Washington Post

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In Local: John Allen Muhammad is a man of many identities

WASHINGTON — The rifle used in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings has been linked to last month's Alabama killing that led investigators to the suspects, Montgomery Police Chief John Wilson said, citing newly available ballistics tests.
Police originally thought a .22-caliber handgun was used in the shooting at a state-run liquor store in Montgomery.

Wilson said witnesses saw John Muhammad, 41, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, the two suspects in the sniper shootings, at the scene of the Montgomery shooting. But they said Muhammad had a handgun and Malvo was holding a magazine — and neither appeared to have a rifle, Wilson said.

That, Wilson said, has led him to suspect that a third person possibly fired the Bushmaster XM-15 rifle that authorities found in Muhammad's blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice last week.

"It's frustrating. Just at the time you figure it out, it grows another leg," he said.

Law-enforcement sources said they have found no evidence to suggest that a third person was involved in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings, but investigators have not ruled out the possibility.

Muhammad and Malvo are charged with capital murder in the shootings that killed 10 people and wounded three others this month in seven jurisdictions in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Prosecutors in Montgomery County, Md., and Prince William, Spotsylvania and Hanover counties in Virginia have charged the pair. In addition, Muhammad has been charged in a 20-count complaint in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md. If convicted, he faces the death penalty in federal court, Maryland and Virginia.

Juvenile proceedings in federal court are secret, so it is unclear whether Malvo also has been charged by U.S. officials.

The Alabama shooting was key for investigators in tying Muhammad and Malvo to the Washington, D.C.-area cases. Callers claiming to be the snipers telephoned police and a Hanover County priest and, in an effort to be taken seriously, referred to the shooting in Montgomery. Malvo had left a fingerprint at the scene of that killing, according to court papers.

Wilson said investigators assumed they were looking for a .22-caliber handgun in the Sept. 21 shooting because no one saw a "long gun." The liquor-store manager, Claudine Parker, was killed, and clerk Kellie Adams was seriously wounded.

But Wilson said an official from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) informed him of the new ballistics tests — which contradicted one last week that found no ties to the sniper rifle. The ATF told him yesterday that original tests were performed before agents had possession of the rifle.

He said James Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the ATF in Alabama and Tennessee, told him that ballistics examiners were able to get a more complete picture after examining a bullet test-fired from the sniper weapon. Cavanaugh, through a spokeswoman, declined comment.

Three federal law-enforcement officials confirmed the new ballistics tests.

Wilson noted, however, that authorities have not found the bullet that wounded Adams, so he left open the possibility that two guns were used at the liquor store.

"We haven't ruled out a third person or another gun," Wilson said.

Investigators will conduct more tests and re-examine the shooting scene. He said investigators would renew their search for the bullet that injured Adams.

"This now allows us to go back and revisit the whole thing, go to the woods, do things we didn't do before," Wilson said. "We're now dealing with a different set of facts."

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

>>>Wilson said witnesses saw John Muhammad, 41, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 17, the two suspects in the sniper shootings, at the scene of the Montgomery shooting. But they said Muhammad had a handgun and Malvo was holding a magazine — and neither appeared to have a rifle, Wilson said.

>>>That, Wilson said, has led him to suspect that a third person possibly fired the Bushmaster XM-15 rifle that authorities found in Muhammad's blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice last week.

This leads to some related questions:

1) Muhammad was said to always have a large, heavily loaded military duffle bag with him in Tacoma, that he didn't like to be seperated from. A witness at the scene of one of the DC-area shootings saw a man with a duffle bag. Where's the duffle bag? It wasn't in the Caprice, from what we've been told.

2) The Caprice didn't have much .223 ammo (1-2 rounds), and had two boxes of .338 Win (serious big game/long range sniper stuff). Where's the rifle to match the ammo, and where's the ammo cache for the .223 Bushmaster?

Possibly with the 3rd guy above?