SILVER SPRING, Md. —
Police shot and killed a man upset with the Discovery Channel network's programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company's headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely.
Police spent several hours negotiating with the gunman, who was upset about the network's programming, after he burst into the suburban Washington building about 1 p.m. waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his body.
Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said one explosive device detonated on the gunman's body when they shot him, and they were working to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks he also had with him were explosives. The 1,900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely.
Manger said officers were monitoring Lee on building security cameras and tactical officers moved in when they saw him pull out the handgun and point it at one of the hostages.
A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect.
A different official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said Lee previously protested outside the building, where he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in February 2008, according to court records.
Police reports indicate he paid homeless people to join his protest and carry signs outside the building. He gave one individual $1,000 for what he considered a prize winning essay.
At one point, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered around Lee, 43, who referred to money as "just trash" and began throwing fistfuls of it into the air.
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Police block the street in front of the headquarters of the Discovery Channel networks Wednesday in Silver Spring, Md. Police say a gunman has taken at least one person hostage in the building. The Associated Press
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In this image released by the Montgomery County Police, James J. Lee is seen in a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct. Lee, 43, a gunman with what police described as "concerns" with the Discovery Channel networks took at least one person hostage in the company's Silver Spring, Md., headquarters Wednesday.
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September 2, 2010
