Paul Joyal, 53, said on "Dateline NBC" last Sunday that the Russian government was involved in the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, and he accused President Vladimir Putin's government of being willing to go to any lengths to silence its critics.

An FBI spokeswoman said the agency has offered its assistance to local police in the investigation but declined to say more.

"The Prince George's County police department is investigating this as a shooting, and because of Paul Joyal's high profile, we are offering our assistance. And if they need us, we're certainly here to provide them with our resources," said FBI spokeswoman Michelle Crnkovich.

Joyal was shot Thursday in his driveway by two men, police said. The shooting appeared to be a random robbery and street shooting, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press.

However, law enforcement sources told NBC-4, the TV network's Washington affiliate, that nothing was taken from Joyal and that after he was shot, Joyal told his wife to call Oleg Kalugin, an ex-KGB general who is a friend and lives in the area, to tell him about the shooting.

Juanita Byrd, a longtime neighbor of Joyal, his wife and three children, said that other than an occasional burglary, the Adelphi, Md., neighborhood where she lives is quiet.

"We're not used to having things like that happen here," said Byrd. "We're quite a close neighborhood. Once in a while we have a robbery, but every neighborhood does."

Joyal had been blunt about the lengths the Russian government would go to silence critics during last Sunday's "Dateline NBC" interview. "A message has been communicated to anyone who wants to speak out against the Kremlin: If you do, no matter who you are, where you are, we will find you and we will silence you - in the most horrible way possible," Joyal said.

Putin and Russian officials have repeatedly denied involvement in the Litvinenko case.

Joyal and Litvinenko were acquaintances, said Kalugin, a former KGB counterintelligence chief who is now a U.S. citizen and who met with Joyal hours before he was shot.

Kalugin also said Joyal's condition was improving.

Joyal works for National Strategies, a Washington-based government consulting firm.

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