Taunting note may be from sniper

The mystery sniper who has killed six people in the Washington suburbs may have left a note taunting police with the words: "I am God."

Investigators found the message scrawled on the Death card from a Tarot pack in the same woods where they discovered a shell casing thought to be from a rifle used three days ago in the shooting of the latest victim, a 13-yearold boy, near his school.

The teenager is still fighting for his life in intensive care.

Police in Maryland have refused to officially confirm the discovery of the card and message, reported by a local TV station, which is said to read in full: "Dear policeman, I am God."

Until now there have been no clues as to the identity or motive of the gunman, who has struck eight times in less than a week.

Maryland governor Paris Glendening last night promised the killer would be hunted down. "We will catch him," he said. "There is no question. And he will be brought to justice.''

The search of woods behind Benjamin Tasker Middle School, also found a place where bushes and plants had been flattened and may have been where the sniper lay down to take his shot. In other incidents, he is thought to have fired from a parked vehicle.

Despite a manhunt that now includes hundreds of police and federal agents, investigators have made little progress in catching the killer, who has brought terror to the normally quiet, middle-class suburbs surrounding the American capital.

Five people died in Rockville in a 16-hour shooting spree that began last Wednesday night. Forensic experts have linked the .233 bullets used in those attacks with the death of a 72-year-old man in Washington itself late on Thursday and a woman who was seriously injured by a single shot as she loaded her car with shopping in Fairfax, Virginia.

Bullet fragments have also been recovered from a shop assistant who was shot at an off-licence in Silver Spring, Maryland, on 14 September. The attack was almost identical to the later shootings and would be the first evidence of the sniper if confirmed.

However, analysis of the fragments has proved inconclusive. Michael Bouchard, an agent for

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said: "We are not linking it, we are not ruling it out."

A reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer has now risen to over £170,000, including £30,000 from a wealthy anonymous-donor in Montana. Police are following up over 1,400 leads in the case and are using two helicopters to constantly patrol the skies during the rush-hour.

They are still anxious to track down a white delivery van with black lettering seen by one eyewitness driving away at speed from a shooting outside a petrol station last week.

Investigators are using psychological and geographic profiles to provide clues about the killer's background and where he may be living.

They believe that the timing of the attacks, always in the early morning or evening, suggest that he may have a job.

He is also thought to have trained as a marksman, with most of the shots being fired from a distance of at least 200 yards.

They have so far been unable to find any link in common with the victims, who include men, women, a child and various races and who seem to have been chosen at random.