Police detained two men in Maryland on Thursday in connection with their desperate hunt for the serial sniper who has murdered 10 people at random in the Washington area.Maryland State Police spokesman Major Greg Shipley said a passing motorist had alerted authorities. The two men were found sleeping in the car, with numberplates matching those given by the task force, along a highway in Frederick County, Maryland, about 80 km northwest of Washington.Shipley said he could not confirm local media reports that one of the two was John Allen Muhammad, also known as John Allen Williams. ‘‘Attempts to verify their identities are being made right now,’’ he said.Investigators are also seeking a possible connection with the shooting of a woman in Alabama in September, media reports said on Thursday. The 52-year-old woman was killed on September 21 outside the state liquor store she worked in Montgomery, Alabama, and another 24-year-old woman was also shot and wounded, officials said. The police in Alabama were looking for a black male suspect between 1.72 and 1.78 metres in height, CNN said. Federal law enforcement officials believe there is a connection and the sniper murders in Washington.Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, the head of the task force, had announced late on Wednesday, only about four hours before the arrest, that police were searching for Muhammad and an unidentified minor. He also said police were looking for a burgundy or blue1990 Chevrolet Caprice with New Jersey number plates.Earlier, Moose had said police wanted to question John Allen Muhammad, an ex-soldier once known as John Allen Williams, who had been linked to the case in a telephone communication last week from the man who police believe is the sniper. ‘‘We believe that Muhammad may have information material to our investigation,’’ Moose had said in a briefing just before midnight on Wednesday.Moose, however, had added a strong word of caution that Muhammad and a juvenile companion, who were the subject of an intense manhunt Wednesday night, may not be directly involved with the shootings. He had described Muhammad, 41, as ‘‘armed and dangerous’’ and had said he was wanted on a federal firearms charge. The developments occurred on a day when the fatal shooting of a Montgomery County bus driver was ballistically linked to the sniper responsible for nine other killings in the Washington area.Police sources said Wednesday that in one of a flurry of contacts — including phone calls and two letters that made references to ‘‘we’’ and ‘‘us’’ — the sniper made a number of demands for money and at least one curious request. Moose had responded with a direct statement Wednesday night: ‘‘We understand that you communicated with us by calling several different locations.Our inability to talk has been a concern for us, as it has been for you. You have indicated that you want us to do and say certain things.”
