A Look at Police Chief in Sniper Case

Oct. 11 -- Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, the man leading the search for the serial sniper who is terrifying residents in the Washington, D.C., area, is known as a passionate and sometimes controversial man.

Moose, who spent six years as the first black police chief in Portland, Ore., is no stranger to controversial cases.

In 1994, Moose was saddled with the difficult task of answering media questions about Tonya Harding, the figure skater convicted of hindering the prosecution in a plot to injure rival Nancy Kerrigan.

Steve Duin, a reporter for the The Oregonian, told ABCNEWS that he remembers Moose as a man who doesn't hide his passionate side and sometimes his temper when on the job.

‘Anger Management’

"You are getting right now, I believe, a very raw, unfiltered look at a very raw, unfiltered guy. Chief Moose is high energy and he's high strung ... he's a guy who has needed and who has taken anger management classes," Duin said.

Moose's intensity has been revealed in a few of his daily news conferences since the series of sniper shootings,which has left seven dead, began last week.

After a 13-year-old boy was critically wounded by a sniper's bullet Monday, Moose held an emotional press conference. "Shooting a kid — it's getting to be really, really personal now," he said as a tear rolled down his left cheek.

The police chief also showed anger in a press conference Wednesday after the media reported leaked information about the tarot card police discovered at the scene where the boy was shot.

"We've got retired police chiefs out there looking for other jobs taking advantage of this situation to get their face on television," he said during the press conference.

"Chief Moose has a temper but he has also a real raw intensity, you are seeing a real genuine guy," Duin said.

Moose, 49, grew up in Lexington, N.C., and earned a doctorate in urban studies at Portland State University.

"Here's a guy who has a doctorate and yet sometimes talks like he's some ninth-grade kid," Duin said.