Two people with Pacific Northwest ties were arrested Thursday morning in connection with the Washington, D.C. sniper case. Police took John Allen Williams, aka John Allen Muhammad, 42, and John Lee Malvo, 17, into custody at a Maryland rest stop.
The arrests come on the heels of a flurry of law enforcement activity in Tacoma and Bellingham. Authorities with chain saws and metal detectors searched Wednesday in the backyard of a Tacoma duplex at South Proctor Street for clues to the sniper who has killed 10 people in the Washington, D.C. area.
Williams was reportedly stationed at Fort Lewis and used to live in the duplex. Malvo is reportedly Williams stepson.
FBI agents, acting on information from the sniper task force, searched the property for possible evidence related to ammunition, law enforcement officials said. Officials created a grid on the property and then searched the back yard, removing bullet casings from the area. Authorities also hauled away a tree stump and other debris in a rental ruck. The stump will be shipped to Washington, D.C. for analysis.
Meanwhile, Bellingham Mayor Mark Amundson said the FBI inquired about two people who lived in the Bellingham area in the last year and a half. He said one of the men is a high-school aged and the other is older.
The FBIs investigation included a search Wednesday of Bellingham High School.
