Handgun found near site of Alabama shooting linked to sniper case

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By BOB JOHNSON Associated Press Writer November 01, 2002

A handgun overlooked in an initial search has been found near a fatal shooting Sept. 21 that John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo allegedly committed during a trail of bloodshed that concluded with the Washington-area sniper attacks, police said Friday.

Police Chief John Wilson said the handgun was stolen at a gun show in Texas and fits the make and model of a handgun believed used in the shooting outside a Montgomery liquor store. Police earlier said ballistics tests showed a rifle used in the sniper attacks was also used in the Montgomery shooting.

Wilson said witness have said they saw "the flash of a handgun" during the shooting that killed store employee Claudine Parker and wounded co-worker Kellie Adams. There was no witness account of a rifle being fired, he said, but he expressed confidence that the crime will be solved.

"We'll figure it out," he said.

He said the handgun was found Wednesday by a citizen along the route where a police officer said he chased Muhammad after the shooting. Wilson said it was found underneath leaves in an area of abandoned apartments.

Authorities said it was stolen July 20 in El Paso, Texas.

Wilson said test will be made to determine if the handgun is connected to the Sept. 21 shooting.

The police chief said one drawback in the investigation is that Alabama authorities have not been able to question Muhammad and Malvo. The two suspects face multiple state and federal counts in the Alabama and Louisiana as well as in the sniper spree that left 10 people dead and three others wounded in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. They are also suspects in a February killing in Washington state.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2002


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