WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- As investigators retrace the steps of the two men accused in a string of shootings around the nation's capital and across the country, a pattern of crimes that police say are linked to the suspects has begun to emerge.
Since their arrests for 13 shootings and 10 deaths around Washington last Thursday, John Muhammad and John Lee Malvo have been charged with or named as suspects in killings or shootings in Baton Rouge, La., Montgomery, Ala., and Tacoma, Wash., and charges in other shootings could follow, investigators said.
On Friday, Montgomery, Ala. Police Chief Charles Wilson said that a bullet recovered from a Sept. 21 murder scene there matched the weapon used in the Washington-area attacks that was recovered from the scene of Muhammad and Malvo's arrest.
Investigators originally believed that the weapon used in the killing of Claudine Parker, 52, and the wounding of Kellie Adams, 24, outside a liquor store where they worked was a handgun.
"It's been concluded that the same .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the Washington D.C. area and other areas was used in the death of Claudine Parker," Wilson said.
"A .22 caliber Magnum bullet and a .223 have tremendously similarities. They're a lot alike. We're dealing with paper-thin differences. We're dealing with microscopic fragments."
He said two officers who came on the scene moments after the shootings said they saw the flash of a handgun.
"We're still convinced then and we're convinced now, that a handgun plays a role in some way," Wilson added. "We want to let all of you know that all of our options are open."
"We also know now that the rifle was used so we're going to have to go back and reevaluate the whole crime scene and see what we may have missed," he said.
Wilson denied charges that the confusion, which included speculation that a third shooting must have been involved to account for the differences in the weapons at the scene, had hurt the investigation.
"Does this hurt our case? Not in any way. None whatsoever. In fact it makes it stronger because we have another piece of evidence that puts the people at the scene. We just now have to factor the rifle into the equation," he said.
He said they also have found a handgun near where the suspect was fleeing, which might have accounted for the differences in the eyewitness accounts and the ballistics evidence.
In addition to the Montgomery killing, Muhammad and Malvo have been charged in the Sept. 23 slaying of Hong Im Ballenger, 45, in Baton Rouge, Muhammad's original hometown, which investigators are sure he and Malvo visited just before they began the shooting spree in the Washington area on Oct. 3.
One or both men are also suspects in a shooting in another killing in Tacoma, which was done with a .45 caliber handgun, but authorities have been unable to link a similar weapon to either man.
A federal law enforcement source said other crimes around the country are being investigated, but that no physical evidence had yet been found linking the crimes.
