Cross Country Sniper Trail?
W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 10 -- From the moment John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were arrested as suspects in the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings two weeks ago, the allegations against them have snowballed.
From the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle found in the Chevrolet Caprice where they were found sleeping, and from other emerging evidence, the two have now been linked to at least 22 shootings that have killed 15 people and wounded seven.
Feb. 16: Tacoma, Wash.
It now appears police believe the crime spree started in Tacoma, Wash., on the night of Feb 16. Keenya Cook was fatally shot outside her apartment. Her aunt had helped police trace Muhammad when he abducted his three children from his ex-wife.
"The Tacoma Police Department now consider John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo as suspects in the Keenya Cook homicide," Tacoma Police Chief David Brame told the media.
March 19: Tucson, Ariz.
The next month in Tucson, a 60-year-old man was killed by a rifle shot as he chipped balls at a golf course. According to police, Muhammad and Malvo were in Tucson visiting Muhammad's sister at the time.
In April, the two men were apparently back in Washington state. At a YMCA they befriended Harjit Singh, who says they showed him a diagram for a silencer and bragged of a sinister plan.
"They said, here's our plan," Singh recalled, "to shoot [a] fuel tanker on the freeway passing by, … to hide in the wood and shoot on the fuel tanker to cause maximum damage or human life."
Sept. 5: Clinton, Md.
Then, in early September in Clinton, Md., the Washington, D.C., suburb where Muhammad's ex-wife had moved, restaurant owner Paul LaRuffa climbed into his car after closing up for the day.
"A few seconds later, just peripherally I saw a shadow, immediately a flash of light, a tremendously loud sound, a window broke, bullets were flying, and I knew I was being shot," LaRuffa said.
LaRuffa was shot six times with a .22-caliber handgun, and robbed of at least $3,000 and his Sony laptop computer — the same laptop that was found in Muhammad's car, law enforcement sources told ABCNEWS.
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