Speculation churns over shooting of Russian expert

International incident or local crime?

‘‘I have no suspicions,” she said, adding that nothing was stolen from him, despite initial press reports that he was robbed of his wallet and briefcase during the incident. The family has his wallet and briefcase.

Elizabeth Joyal said she was at home when she heard the gunshot outside, as her husband was getting out of his car in the driveway.

‘‘I ran outside, and he told me he’d been shot – call 911,” she said.

She said her husband is sedated and in critical but stable condition.

Joyal, 53, was shot in the groin and seriously injured in his Adelphi driveway March 1, four days after he appeared on ‘‘Dateline NBC” and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of playing a role in the death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The agent was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210 last fall in London.

The Adelphi shooting quickly spread to international media outlets from Sydney to Moscow to Doha. Blogs and articles suggested Joyal might have been targeted because of his statements on NBC. Similar speculation surfaced after Russian journalist and Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya was fatally gunned down in her Moscow apartment in October 2006.

Prince George’s police, who are handling the investigation, would not confirm whether anything was stolen from Joyal during the shooting.

‘‘The investigators are obviously aware of his background,” police spokeswoman Cpl. Debbi Carlson said.

‘‘It’s hard to determine what exactly took place there,” spokesman Cpl. Stephen Pacheco said, adding that the neighborhood where the shooting took place is typically a ‘‘quiet” residential area.

FBI spokeswoman Michelle Crnkovich confirmed that Prince George’s police are leading the investigation, and said the FBI has offered to provide any assistance the department needs.

Joyal is also vice president of National Strategies, Inc., a business development and marketing company that helps American companies win projects with local governments and other businesses. He serves on the Prince George’s County Law Enforcement task force and Gov. Martin O’Malley’s public safety transition team, according to the National Strategies Web site.

County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, who got to know Joyal through his work with an auto theft task force, said he had no idea what was driving the attack.

‘‘I’m not taking any kind of view on that at this point,” Ivey said.

Staff Writer Dennis Carter contributed to this article.

E-mail Judson Berger at jberger@gazette.net.