Malvo apologizes for shooting La. man

HAMMOND, La., March 4 (UPI) -- One of the victims of Washington, D.C., sniper Lee Boyd Malvo said Thursday he has received a letter of apology.

John Gaeta of Hammond, La., was shot three months before Malvo and mentor John Allen Muhammad terrorized the nation's capital in 2002, killing 10 people and wounding three others. Muhammad has been executed and Malvo is serving a life sentence.

Gaeta, 58, told CNN police confirmed last month he had been among the pair's victims and Monday he received a letter of apology from Malvo.

The letter read: "Mr. Gaeta, I am truly sorry for the pain I caused you and your loved ones. I was relieved to hear that you suffered no paralyzing injuries and that you are alive. Sincerely, Lee Boyd Malvo."

Malvo was 17 at the time of the shooting spree.

Gaeta was shot shortly before closing time at a mall where he had gone shoe shopping. He said he was approached by two men when he pulled over because of a flat tire. The two men walked away but later returned and Gaeta confronted them when he spotted them sneaking around his truck. One of the men pulled a .22-caliber revolver and shot in him the neck.

"He kind of had a smirk on his face like, 'I'm gonna kill you,'" Gaeta told CNN. "I remember thinking, 'This is the end of my life tonight.'"

Gaeta fell to the ground and played dead. When his attackers fled, he ran to a service station and then was taken to a hospital.

In addition to the Washington-area shootings, Malvo and Muhammad were linked to killings in Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia that left three dead, along with deaths in California, Arizona and Texas.