Posted on 10/25/2002 6:54:32 AM PDT by Dallas
BALTIMORE --
With two suspects in custody for the deadly sniper shootings, officials will begin considering who will get the $500,000 reward.
"We're just celebrating the information that we were able to release (Thursday) and we'll begin to deal with that tomorrow," Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said.
The fund, which started at $50,000 before growing tenfold, was offered for information leading to "the arrest and indictment" of those responsible for the attacks. County officials have yet to work out whether the reward could be shared by more than one individual offering vital information.
"I'm sure that that will be on the minds of many people who have called in tips who are wondering if it applies to them," Baur said. She said she expected county officials will work out details soon.
Maj. Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, said investigators know the identity of the person who called 911 and reported the blue Chevrolet Caprice in which John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, were sleeping at a Maryland rest stop.
"He was certainly a concerned citizen who had, not long before, heard a broadcast for the lookout and was alert and spotted that vehicle," Shipley said.
Shipley said the individual's name is being withheld because he is a witness in a criminal investigation. The man lives in a bordering state, but comes to Maryland regularly for work, he said.
Another man who called about the car at the truck stop did come forward. Truck driver Ron Lanz of Ludlow, Ky., gave several interviews saying he didn't consider himself a hero and vowing to share any reward money with victims' families. But Baur said Lanz was not the first caller.
In addition to callers who reported seeing the car, others could have contributed information vital to the case in other ways and might be eligible for a share of the reward, Baur noted.
Montana developer Tim Blixseth helped launch a nationwide effort to raise money for the reward, giving $50,000 of his own money to match the county's initial reward fund.
Shipley noted that no one has been indicted in the case yet, although investigators made clear Thursday they expect the men will be charged in the slayings.
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Montgomery County Police: http://www.co.mo.md.us/services/police
Truck driver Ron Lantz is shown on the front porch of his home in Ludlow, Ky., Thursday night, Oct. 24, 2002. Lantz says he was one of the people who alerted police to the location of the two men suspected in the three-week sniping spree in the Washington, D.C. region. A 41-year-old Army veteran and a teenager were arrested early Thursday morning at a roadside rest stop near Frederick, Md., for questioning in the fatal sniper attacks. (AP Photo/David Kohl)
Who cares? He found them and, unlike the other caller, was willing to put his own safety on the line to help apprehend the filth.
10-4 on giving the bulk of the money to Mr. Lantz, who has already said he'll donate it to the families of the victims. This trucker put his life on the line to prevent the escape of the suspects. That's a lot more than just a phone call IMO.
10-4 on contrast. Some folks will do the right thing almost as a reflex. We have many of them here in "God's Country" (Kentucky) and all around us as well. Mr. Lantz is a true hero IMHO. I would like to shake his hand!
He said that they believed then that it was only a matter of time before they were found. He was a very humble-sounding man.
He's a salt of the earth kind of guy in my book.
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