Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, head of the task force investigating the Washington-area sniper, has attempted to deliver messages to the person who left a message and a phone number at the scene of the latest shooting, a Ponderosa restaurant outside Richmond. His statements:

In a news conference Sunday: "To the person who left us a message at the Ponderosa last night. You gave us a telephone number. We do want to talk to you. Call us at the number you provided. Thank you."

In a news conference Monday morning: "The message that needs to be delivered is that we are going to respond to a message that we have received. We are preparing our response at this time."

In a news conference Monday afternoon: "The person you called could not hear everything you said. The audio was unclear and we want to get it right. Call us back so that we can clearly understand."