|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Police information quickly led to arrests
FREDERICK, Maryland (CNN) – Information police gave out to the public about a vehicle they were searching for in connection with the Washington, D.C.-area shootings quickly led to the arrests of two men. Shortly before midnight Eastern Daylight Time, a federal arrest warrant for firearms violations was issued for John Allen Muhammad, 41, also known as John Allen Williams. Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said the arms violation was not related to the D.C.-area sniper shootings, but authorities believed Muhammad "may have information material to our investigation." Moose said Muhammad might be traveling with a juvenile, John Lee Malvo, a 17-year-old Jamaican national. Authorities did not call either of them suspects, but said they were wanted for questioning. Also at midnight, Moose issued a statement to the man believed to be sniper: "You have indicated that you want us to do and say certain things. You 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. ... Let's talk directly. We have an answer for you about your option." (About "a duck in a noose") Police issued an all points bulletin, and that they were searching for a blue or burgundy 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. At about 1 a.m., a motorist saw the suspect vehicle at an I-70 rest stop about 50 miles northwest of Washington, and called police. Maj. Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, said the unidentified motorist at the rest stop called 911 and was told to remain in his van. Rest stop attendant Larry Blank said he arrived at work at midnight, logged in and listened to some police scanner activity before going outside for his first task -- a check of the parking lot of the Interstate 70 rest area where he is the attendant on duty from midnight to 8 a.m. Just before 1 a.m., Blank noticed "a lot of noise on my scanner. Then I noticed that the exit ramp was blocked." Curious, Blank investigated, and ended up locked in a van with a motorist who had recognized a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with New Jersey tags as the one police were searching for in connection to the D.C.-area sniper. "I asked him what was going on and he asked me to get in the van and lock the door," he said. "He was the one talking with the police on his cell phone, and they told him to tell me to stay put." Relaying through the man with the cell phone, police asked Blank for as much information about the rest area as possible.
And then, there was the wait. "I guess the police surrounded the whole rest area and told us we need to stay put, that they was going to have ATF (the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) and all kinds of people coming through there," he said. Blank and the unidentified motorist were nervous, unarmed and vulnerable, the attendant said. "We were hoping they (the men in the car) were the ones they were looking for so the whole thing would be over," Blank said. What happened next was quick and decisive. "We didn't actually see any police officers for a while, until they actually stormed the parking lot where the vehicle was," he said. "There were helicopters, police cars everywhere." Authorities, meanwhile, applied for a search warrant for the vehicle while the rest stop was secured by police, said Maryland State Police spokesman Shipley. Just after 3:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, members of the sniper investigation task force arrest Muhammad and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo, a Jamaican citizen. They were taken to an undisclosed Montgomery County location. (gallery) Later Thursday morning, Maryland police seized the suspected vehicle.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
