Officials probe possible link between sniper suspect, Tacoma murder.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

BELLINGHAM, Wash. _ Investigators were planning to examine a handgun that alleged serial sniper John Muhammad had when he was arrested last week to see if it links him to a murder earlier this year in his former hometown of Tacoma, Wash., prosecutors said Saturday.

Montgomery, Ala., police have not mentioned Muhammad's handgun, but they charged him Friday with the late September slaying of a liquor store clerk in which the murder weapon also is believed to have been a handgun.

The killings in the Washington, D.C., area were committed with another weapon found in Muhammad's car, a Bushmaster rifle that fires .223 caliber rounds, according to authorities. …