Police question 2 in sniper shootings

RICHMOND, Va. -- Authorities took two men into custody Monday for questioning in the Washington-area sniper attacks after surrounding a white van parked at a pay phone.\nHanover County Sheriff Stuart Cook said the two men were seized about 8:45 a.m. across from an Exxon station in suburban Richmond.\n"The two people we have in custody are being questioned as regards the sniper shootings," Cook said. "When we have further information that we can give to the public ... that we've concluded this case we'll do so, but that's not the case at hand."\nHe refused to describe them as suspects.\nInvestigators also confirmed that Saturday night's shooting at a steakhouse outside Richmond was the work of the sniper. The attacks have left nine people dead and three critically wounded since Oct. 2.\nThe developments Monday came one day after police issued a public plea for the sniper to contact them at a phone number that was part of a message found near the latest shooting scene.\nAt least one of the people in custody was dragged out of the van, described by witnesses as a Plymouth Voyager with temporary Virginia tags.\nKeith Underwood, service manager at an Oldsmobile dealership next door, said officers screamed at the person behind the wheel and yanked several times on the door before getting it open.\n"They basically surrounded him with their shotguns," said another witness, Pathenia Fields, a title clerk at the car dealer. She said she saw just one man in the van.\nOver the weekend, police said they found a note in the woods near the Ponderosa restaurant in Ashland, a few miles north of Richmond, after the latest victim was shot and critically wounded. Police urged whoever left the note to call them.\nEarly Monday, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, who is in charge of the investigation, said authorities had received a message and were "preparing our response."\nHe did not specify whether the message was a new communication or the one they discovered near the scene of Saturday's shooting. He refused to elaborate or answer questions.\nSurgeons removed the bullet from the latest victim, a 37-year-old man shot, and turned it over to investigators. As in the previous shootings, the victim was felled by a single shot.\nThe victim, whose name was not released, remained in critical condition Monday after six hours of surgery. Doctors were cautiously optimistic but said he would need more surgery.\nThrough the hospital, the wife released a statement saying the caring and prayers she and her husband have received "have been a bright ray of hope and comfort."\n"Please pray also for the attacker and that no one else is hurt," she added.\nIn other developments:\n• Schools in the Ashland and Richmond areas stayed closed Monday, keeping more than 200,000 public students out of class.\n• France alerted Interpol about a French army deserter who is known as a marksman and is missing in North America. A Defense Ministry spokesman said there was speculation of a link to the sniper.\n• In Arlington, more than 200 mourners gathered Monday to remember Linda Franklin, the FBI analyst shot to death a week ago in Falls Church, as a spirited woman with a generous heart. The altar at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church held candles to represent prayers for each sniper victim.\n• Bail was denied Monday for Matthew M. Dowdy, who was accused of lying to police by describing a cream-colored van with a burned-out taillight at the scene of last week's shooting in Falls Church.\nThe nature of the message that investigators say was left at the Ashland shooting scene was unclear.\nThe message contained significant text and was found in woods behind the restaurant, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Monday, quoting unidentified law enforcement sources. The report also said police have found more than one tarot card during the investigation.\nA tarot death card was reported found Oct. 7 outside a Bowie, Md., middle school where the sniper wounded a 13-year-old boy. It had the words "Dear Policeman, I am God" written on it.