ROCKVILLE, Md. — Police declared the Washington-area sniper murders solved Thursday. In custody was a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and a teenage companion who authorities say has been implicated in a deadly robbery.
Police said a rifle found in their car matched the murder weapon.
Neither man had been charged in the killings as of Thursday evening, and their alleged motive remained unclear. But acquaintances said both men sometimes expressed anti-American sentiments, and whatever the motive, police believe the suspects shot 13 people — innocent men, women and a 13-year-old boy — from a distance and then ran. Ten of them died.
Police said a trail of tips and clues that stretched from the Washington, D.C., area to Alabama and Washington state led a federal SWAT team to a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. It was parked at a rest stop off Interstate 70 in Frederick County, Md., about 50 miles northwest of the nation’s capital.
Inside the car, police found John Allen Muhammad, 41, who changed his name from John Allen Williams when he converted to Islam, and John Lee Malvo, 17, a Jamaican native who apparently is not Muhammad’s stepson, despite previous reports that he is.
The two were asleep. Officers captured them without additional violence. It was 3:19 a.m. EDT.
A search of the Chevy Caprice produced a rifle that ballistics tests later concluded was the same weapon employed during the three-week reign of terror, a federal agent said. Officers also found a sighting scope and a tripod.
The car reportedly was modified so a shooter could lie on the back seat and fire out of the trunk. That, experts said, could explain why no shell casings were found at most of the shooting sites.
Authorities said the final tip came from Ron Lantz, a truck driver from Ludlow, Ky., who spotted the car at the rest stop. Lantz said he called police and was told to stay in his vehicle and keep an eye on the suspects.
“I’m no hero, get me right,” he said in a radio interview. “I think I did a real good deed and may have saved a lot of people’s lives.”
By Thursday evening, Muhammad and Malvo had not been formally charged with the crimes, but authorities said they were certain they had their men. Prosecutors were scheduled to meet Friday to discuss charges and work out jurisdictional and other issues.