Charles Moose, the former chief of the Montgomery County Police Department who emerged as a regional leader during the D.C. area sniper attacks, died on Thanksgiving Day. He was 68.
His son, David Moose, confirmed his father’s death and described the late chief as a “great dad.”
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Montgomery police issued a statement mourning its former chief and expressed gratitude for his years of service.
“He was a great leader and led our department through the DC Sniper investigation, one of the most difficult crime sprees in our country’s history,” the department said in the statement. “We send condolences to his wife Sandy and all of his family and friends.”
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The cause of death was not immediately available.
Moose was at the helm of the police force during the series of shootings that rocked the Washington region in October 2002, with the highest number of murders concentrated in Montgomery County. Ten people going about their daily lives — mowing lawns, vacuuming cars, pumping gas — were killed, and three others were seriously wounded. For three weeks, the Washington region was paralyzed with fear. Children stayed home. Sporting events were canceled. Residents tried to hide as they refueled their cars at gas stations.
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Throughout the shootings, Moose became known across the country for his sympathetic and dogged leadership. He wept on camera when announcing that a 13-year-old was wounded on his way to school. He urged residents to spend more time with their children. And his team ultimately ended the terror Oct. 24, apprehending the snipers, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, while they were asleep in their car at a rural Maryland rest stop.
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“We have not given in to the terror,” Moose said at the time. “Yes, we’ve all experienced anxiety. But in the end, resiliency has won out.”
Charles Moose's Memoir of A Manhunt
The next day, someone hung a white sheet on the Capital Beltway that said “Thanks Moose.” A website, www.chiefmoose.com, popped up as the unofficial “Chief Moose Fan Club.”
Less than a year later, Moose resigned from the department amid controversy surrounding a memoir he published about what he called the largest manhunt in American police history. The Montgomery County ethics commission decided that the chief shouldn’t profit off his public service, and prosecutors involved in the trial of the snipers sounded alarm that the book could impact jury selection. But Moose decided to write the book anyway, resigning from the police force and telling the commission: “I care a lot more about this case than anybody in this room. So to have people say to me that I’m going to jeopardize these people going to prison or accepting the death penalty [just] so I can write a book is like the meanest thing anybody can say to me.”
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Moose joined the Montgomery County Police Department as its chief in 1999 after rising through the ranks with the police force in Portland, Ore. He also served as commander of the D.C. Air National Guard’s security forces squadron.
Tributes from local leaders began pouring in Friday for the late chief.
“For 23 days, Chief Moose provided a calming presence in the midst of terror and fear that consumed our County and the Washington Region and was nationally recognized for his efforts,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said in a statement. “We are forever grateful for his contributions to public safety during his tenure.”
U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said he got to know Moose during the investigation in the Beltway sniper case. One of the victims was killed at a Home Depot parking lot in Fairfax County, where Manger was chief at the time.
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“We all knew we were dealing with a criminal investigation that had impacted the community’s sense of safety more than anything either of us had dealt with before,” Manger said Friday. “I was impressed by how seriously he took that responsibility.”
Chief Moose Is a Man in 2 Uniforms
Manger said that before the sniper case, he had run into Moose at regional meetings but didn’t really know him. He said they became close during the sniper investigation.
Manger described Moose as “determined” during the investigation, but he said they both realized that public support would quickly run out if an arrest wasn’t made in short order.
“We were trying nearly anything and everything we could to locate these killers,” Manger said. “Had this gone on much longer, another week, another two weeks, I’m not sure the public would say, why weren’t we solving this?”
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After police arrested the two suspects, Manger said Moose became “a rock star.” The chief added, “He’d go into a facility, a building, and he would just be mobbed by people.”
Memories from the sniper shootings, 10 years later
Manger said he and Moose lost touch after Moose retired, though they shared a fleeting moment in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005.
Moose was involved with rescue efforts as part of a National Guard mission, while Manger was checking on officers his department had sent down to help. They saw each other from a distance.
“I waved to him, he waved back,” Manger recalled.
That was the last time they saw each other.
Jennifer Jenkins contributed to this report.