Relief was the first emotion to be expressed by newspapers across the US at the arrests of two suspects in the sniper shootings which have terrorised the nation's capital and its suburbs.

Suburban communities around Washington can start to return to normal

But close on its heels were sobering comments about the vulnerability of every community and every person in the country which was highlighted by the killing spree.

The Washington Post entitled its editorial simply: "A nightmare ends."

Its home communities were those targeted in the shootings which killed 10 people and injured three more and though the newspaper urged its readers not to forget the victims and their families, it said most people would want to return to normal as quickly as possible.

There would be "the chill reminder of vulnerability", the editorial warned.

"But it doesn't lessen the joy of being able at last to tell the kids that it looks as if this is a story in which the good guys have won in the end."

Precarious safety

The front page of The Washington Times announced: "Thank God, it's over."

But it said the sniper attacks highlighted how precarious people's physical safety was.

The 11 September attacks showed the "struggle" that the US was involved with and the sniper attacks were "an object lesson" that anyone could be targeted.

"Fortunately, it seems that old-fashioned detective work overturned the rock that Mr Muhammad and his youthful aide-de-camp were hiding under," it added.

John Allen Muhammad could be the first American Muslim serial killer, one paper said

The Sun in Baltimore found the people of Maryland's Montgomery County - where six people were killed - enjoying "A time of joy like New Year's Eve" with the announcement of the arrests.

"Montgomery County awoke yesterday as if from a terrifying dream and saw the world begin to come slowly back into focus," it reported.

"Suddenly, Halloween pumpkins mattered again. And fall colours. And all the other small pleasures people savour when they're not filled with dread or steely determination to keep themselves and loved ones safe."

Fingerprint clue

Though refusing to criticise police, The Sun did note that the suspects apparently dropped bigger and bigger hints to investigators until they were "finally able to connect the dots".

"What if he had been a true political terrorist, determined to remain uncaught?" it asked.

In the other Montgomery - in Alabama - the Montgomery Advertiser was proud to proclaim: "Montgomery evidence helps crack sniper case."

A single fingerprint found at the scene of a liquor store murder now linked to the sniper suspects could have been crucial, it said.

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright was quoted as saying that after the fingerprint was received by the sniper task force, "their case took off".

The suspects - John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo - were also known in the Pacific coast state of Washington, where The Seattle Times profiled them as "A controlling man, a teen who followed".

The army's image will be tainted if Mr Muhammad is the killer, one paper said

The News Tribune in Tacoma where Mr Muhammad lived during and after his army career said while the chief victims were those who were shot, the attacks - if shown to be the work of Mr Muhammad - would also hurt the image of the US army and American Muslims.

They would also shame the city of Tacoma, adding to its history of serial murders.

"Americans who know nothing else of Tacoma can remember Ted Bundy, the Trang Dai killings - and now John Muhammad," it said.

A report in Baton Rouge's The Advocate noted wryly that police should have looked for the sniper in that city, given its current run of notorious misfortune which includes "a serial killer, an outbreak of West Nile virus, a possible link to last year's anthrax attack, the imprisonment of former Governor Edwin Edwards, a tropical storm and a hurricane, and a native who allegedly was a member of the Taleban".

And indeed, Mr Muhammad grew up, married and started a family in the Baton Rouge suburb of Scotlandville.