The former chief of police in Montgomery County, Maryland, the police department that became the public face for the investigation into the Beltway Sniper hit that terrorized the DC region nearly two decades ago, has died.
The former head of Montgomery County, Maryland, the police department that became the public face for the investigation into the Beltway Sniper hit that terrorized the DC region nearly two decades ago, has died.
Charles Moose, who left office in 2003, was 68, according to a statement from the Montgomery County Police Department.
Moses’ wife posted a message on Facebook saying he died at home on Thanksgiving Day.
“We are extremely saddened by the news that former Chief Charles Moose has passed away,” said Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones. “He was an amazing leader and led our department through the DC Sniper investigation, one of the most heinous crimes in our country’s history. We send condolences to his wife Sandy and his entire family and friends.”
Moose also served as the first black police chief in Portland, Oregon, in the 1990s before becoming Montgomery County Chief in 1999.
During three weeks in October 2002, 10 people across the DC region were shot and killed in a series of seemingly random shootings carried out by 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad and 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo, who came to be known as Beltway Snipers.
The first outbreak of shootings all took place in Montgomery County, and the attacks, which intimidated the DC area and seized the nation, made Moose “from unknown suburban police chief to one of the most recognized people in the world,” The Washington Post reported. back then.
Moose led the task force with several agencies looking for shooters, often holding several news conferences a day – many broadcast live on cable news and watched across the country.
The shootings cost ordinary people their lives – pumping gas, shopping, mowing the lawn.
On the morning of Oct. 7, after a 13-year-old boy was shot and critically injured after being dropped off at Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Maryland, Moose became famously emotional at a news conference later that day.
“Shooting a child – it’s going to be really, really personal now,” the boss said in a shaky voice. Journalists noted that a tear rolled down his cheek.
The boy, Iran Brown, survived the shooting and later testified at Muhammad’s trial in Maryland in 2006.
As the public face of the investigation, which also included the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Moose sometimes turned his anger over media coverage.
At the scene of the shooting on October 7, 2002, investigators found a tarot card with the words “Call Me God” written on it and a directive to investigators not to disclose the frightening discovery to the press.
But the tarot card detail later came to be reported by The Washington Post and WUSA Channel 9.
“I have not received any message that the citizens of Montgomery County want Channel 9 or The Washington Post, or any other media, to resolve this matter,” Moose lectured. “If they do, let me know. We are going to do other police work, and we will hand over this case to the media, so you can solve it.”
In an interview with WTOP’s Neal Augenstein in 2012, which marked the 10th anniversary of the shootings, Moose later said some of his anger over the cameras was choreographed as he suspected the snipers were tuning in to the press conference.
On Friday, Augenstein reflected on covering the history of the WTOP.
“Every day, journalists who had been working on their investigative sources around the clock came to the briefing and heard the latest official from the boss,” he said.
“As with any active investigation, the police do not answer all the questions a journalist asks and do not provide the information the public asks. This is how the police investigation should work. They often do not share details that only the suspect may know. Moose knew that at some point after the vandalism was over, there would be a lawsuit, and protecting information for a successful prosecution is probably second on the list of a police chief’s job, after keeping the public safe. Chief Moose took both of these responsibilities very seriously. “
After the fact, there were questions about how much information investigators were willing to share publicly with the public while the attacks were still ongoing.
For example, when investigators determined that Muhammad and Malvo were the suspected shooters on October 23, Moose held a late-night news conference to announce that an arrest warrant had been issued for the older of the two due to federal gun charges.
But on the podium, Moose did not reveal that the suspects are believed to be driving a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice with New Jersey license plates.
Only after these details had been leaked to the media and reported did an alert driver discover Caprice at a break point off Interstate 70 in Frederick County, Maryland, sending the authorities thronging.
Muhammad and Malvo, who were both sleeping inside the car, were arrested – bringing the three-week terror around DC to an end.
After reflecting on Moose’s role, Augenstein recalled: “By all accounts, Chief Moose always told the truth in these briefings. Maybe not all the journalists asked, but what he said was true. He protected information that a good police chief would do. He answered questions and respected the fact that journalists were asking them on behalf of their listeners, viewers and readers. And while there was information being leaked and eventually reported, the arrests were made. The charges were successful. And Chief Moose was the man, as many of us remember. “
Still, his tenure in the police department ended in controversy.
Moose resigned in June 2003 after an ethical dispute over his plans to write a memoir about the sniper investigation.
He briefly worked as an officer for the Honolulu Police Department before retiring.
Muhammad and Malvo were both convicted in Virginia and Maryland of the killings, and Muhammad was executed in 2009.
Malvo’s life sentences have been challenged based on his age at the time.
The WTOP’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.
Post a Comment