BALTIMORE — The Baltimore FOX station, FOX45, was evacuated after a man wearing some sort of animal suit set fire to a parked car and threatened to “blow up” the station.
Police and firefighters were called to the station around 2PM and a bomb squad arrived before 3PM.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis says the suspect walked out of the building and did not comply with orders. He was shot by a tactical officer, and a robot was been used to approach the suspect. The suspect is alive, but was not following orders given by police.
At around 4:23 the scene appeared to be quiet, as the suspect’s clothes have been removed and he has been separated from a “device.”
The suspect was taken to an area hospital, and is expected to survive.
Police confirmed the “device”was made up of a red flotation device with chocolate candy bars wrapped in aluminum foil and wires.
The suspect is a 25 year old white male, believed to be from Howard County. FOX45 spoke to the suspect’s father, who said his son believed the world was going to end.
Employees were allowed back into the building before 8PM, but police are still on scene investigating.
Sometime before 1:30PM Security guard Jourael Apostolides said that he spotted the man in the vestibule of the station, wearing either a panda or hedgehog “onesie.”
Apostolides did not let the man in the building, and discreetly called 911.
News Director Mike Tomko said, “Someone came into the front of the building and they apparently said that they had some information they wanted to get on the air.”
“I came down at one point not knowing the person was in the lobby, near the vestibule area. He talked to me and was wearing what appears to be a full body white panda suit, surgical mask and sunglasses. He had a flash drive, said he had information he wanted to get on the air. He compared it to the information found in the Panama Papers. I told him, ‘I can’t let you in, you’re going to have to leave the flash drive here and slide it through the opening.’ He wouldn’t do that. Apparently he had made some threats before.” Said Tomko.
This is a developing story.
