Discovery Channel Gunman Shot Dead
Posted on 02. Sep, 2010 by Dahlia Lithwick in Headlines, World
Discovery Channel Gunman Shot Dead – A police shot a gunman to death and freed the three captives. The gunman took three hostages at the Discovery Communications headquarters in the United States.
Police said, when the man entered the building near Washington DC, he had a canisters strapped to his chest and a handgun. The authorities opened fire because they thought the gunman was about to detonate his explosives.
Discovery employees were evacuated from the building right after the incident began at around 1700 GMT. The police had held several hours of talks with the gunman.
The area around the building in Silver Spring, Maryland, was sealed off as officers negotiated with the man. However, according to Montgomery County Police Chief J Thomas Manger, after several hours of negotiating, police began to fear for the safety of the hostages. He described a man had entered the Discovery headquarters through the main entrance wearing what appeared to be a metallic canisters on his clothes. The man suddenly pulled out a handgun and told everyone to remain still.
The gunman was James Jay Lee, a man in his 40s known for protesting outside the building.
The gunman had a brief telephone conversation with one of the producers of US broadcaster NBC while he was holding the hostages. NBC reported that the gunman identified himself as James J Lee. The gunman said “I have a gun and I have a bomb. I have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off.”