Three Weeks in October: The Hunt for the Washington Sniper

Wednesday evening 2nd October 2002, a man is suddenly shot dead in a parking lot in Maryland, Washington DC. There are no witnesses. The killing fails to make the following morning's papers. As Montgomery County Police Chief, Charles Moose notes this, and rues the cheapness of modern life, another call comes in -- a man has been shot dead mowing a lawn; half an hour later a taxi driver lies dead on the forecourt of a Mobil station. Chief Moose's worst nightmare is about to unfurl -- a serial sniper is on the loose in the affluent Washington suburbs. Three Weeks In October is the inside story of America's worst sniper case on record. Chapters detailing the tense, day-by-day unfolding of the killing -- there were ultimately 13 victims before John Allen Muhammad and his young nephew Lee Malvo were arrested asleep in a beaten up car -- are intercut with the life story of one of America's most high-profile police chiefs. Moose worked his way up the ranks against the backdrop of the mean streets of Portland, Oregon. Shy, often unorthodox in his methods, but ultimately very popular in the force -- a cop's cop -- Moose's story is all the more remarkable given the colour of his skin. Or, in the words of a psychiatrist Moose was once referred to after one outburst too many: 'You are a black policeman, and the police department is a racist institution. The history of police departments in America is a racist history. You better get used to it, or get out.You cannot get angry.'