Breaking: Armed Man With Bomb Takes at Least One Hostage In Discovery Channel Building
Sep 1, 2010 3 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
DEVELOPING: Police in Maryland are responding to a hostage situation after reports that a man with a handgun entered the Discovery Channel headquarters building in Silver Spring and fired at least one shot.
An official with the Montgomery County Police Department confirmed to Fox News that a man with an explosive device is holding at least one person hostage in the lobby of the building.
A Discovery employee reportedly told WJLA-TV that the building, located in suburban Washington, D.C., was on lockdown. The employee also said she thought she had heard five or six gunshots.
Dan Friz, a spokesman with the Montgomery County Police Department, reportedly told the station that a tactical team is trying to communicate with the gunman.
Friz said police were initially dispatched to the building after a report of shots fired at approximately 1 p.m.
The suspect, identified by police as an Asian male, has “some sort of device on him that may be explosive in nature,” Friz told the station.
Some witnesses reported that the man fired a shot before declaring, “Nobody is going anywhere,” according to police.
Authorities have so far not confirmed how many shots were fired. Employees at the building were told to take cover in locked offices, according to local press accounts.
Discovery Communications LLC operates cable and satellite networks in the U.S. including The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet.
