SNIPER CLAIMS MORE SHOOTINGS ONE CASE MAY BE '02 L.A. ROBBERY.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo told authorities he and John Allen Muhammad were responsible for four additional shootings, according to a published report, but the only survivors of those shootings said Friday that they couldn't identify their attackers.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the four shootings occurred before the three-week sniper spree in October 2002 in which 13 people were shot, 10 fatally, in the Washington area.

The Post said two people familiar with the case confirmed the information, both on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

State's Attorney Douglas Gansler of Montgomery County, where Malvo agreed to a plea deal and testified against Muhammad last month, declined to comment on the report Friday. Malvo's attorneys said they wouldn't discuss what their client had told authorities.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies across Los Angeles remained tight-lipped Friday as to whether they were rechecking cold cases after reports that the snipers shot a man in Southern California during a robbery in February or March 2002.

The Los Angeles Police Department would not say whether detectives with its robbery and homicide bureau had found a connection. They said the FBI was handling the investigation. A spokeswoman from the bureau's Baltimore office said the FBI was investigating what the anonymous sources told the newspaper.

``It's a new investigation now,'' said Michelle Crnkovich. ``Since it's ongoing, we can't comment on it.''

Muhammad, 45, and Malvo, 21, already had been linked to earlier shootings in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington state, and were suspected in the March 2002 fatal shooting of a golfer in Tucson, Ariz., in addition to the Washington, D.C.-area attacks that fall.

The four most recently linked victims were also shot in 2002: a man killed in Los Angeles during a robbery in February or March; a 76-year-old man who survived a shooting May 18 at a golf course in Clearwater, Fla.; a man shot to death May 27 while doing yard work in Denton, Texas; and a 54-year-old man who survived being shot Aug. 1 during a robbery outside a shopping mall near Baton Rouge, La., the newspaper said.

The FBI's Los Angeles office was researching the claim of a Los Angeles shooting, spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. City police referred inquiries to the federal agency.

Elsewhere, one police department hoped to pursue charges after learning of the reported confession, while another had doubts about Malvo's allegations. The two survivors said the reported confessions might be the only evidence prosecutors would have.

Lt. Tommy Corkern, a Hammond, La., police spokesman, said the department was in touch Friday with the FBI in New Orleans, trying to verify Malvo's statements. Once that happens, Hammond police will take the case to the local district attorney.

``We plan to bring charges as soon as we can,'' he said.

Malvo's attorneys, William Brennan and Timothy J. Sullivan, would not comment on information their client gave to law enforcement officials in recent months.

``We are fully aware of the universe of Mr. Malvo's potential criminal problems,'' they said Thursday in a statement to the Post. ``We have received several inquiries from other jurisdictions concerning possible investigations.''

Muhammad was already on Death Row in Virginia for one of the sniper killings when he was convicted in Maryland and sentenced to six life terms there. Malvo is serving life in prison.