Armed man took three people hostage at the Discovery Channel's headquarters
Armed man took three people hostage at the Discovery Channel's headquarters
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| 911 call: Police take up position in front of the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring after they receive reports of a man later identified as James Lee(inset) firing shots. Pics/AFP |
Police have not yet confirmed if he is carrying a bomb. Three bomb technicians have been rushed to the scene.
It is not clear how many people Lee is holding hostage at the building in Silver Springs, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC. Police described it as a "small number".
Most of the 1,900 people, who work in the building were able to escape safely. Children were also rushed to safety from the company's daycare facility, including four cribs full of babies.
They were reunited with their frantic parents in a nearby McDonald's.
Police said they are negotiating with Lee now and watching him on CCTV.
It is not yet clear what he wants - but it is believed that he became enraged after Discovery rejected his ideas for a television show.
In an online diatribe, he posted: "I have tried to submit television show ideas to the Discovery Channel about saving the planet and they have outright rejected all ideas and won't even listen.
Adam Dolan, a sales director in Discovery's education division, said that he was heading to lunch with a co-worker when he heard about the gunman.
He was told to go back up to the top floor, lock the door and turn off the lights.
Eventually the workers were herded down a stairwell and told to go home.
"Everyone was very scared, but at the same timeu00a0... I think people were calm and collected and responded as one would expect in this situation," said Dolan (28).
When he got to the bottom floor, he saw shattered glass near the company's daycare and suspected it was broken to get the children out.
Dolan said the company has unarmed security guards, who won't let anyone into the building without a badge.
Another person inside the building added that the gunman had something strapped to his chest and had hostages. The person asked not to be identified, saying people inside were told not to speak to the media.
ATF and FBI officials also said they were responding.
People were being kept away from the main drag of the downtown area where the building is located amid restaurants and shops.
Traffic in the area was jammed.
| Hostage crisis |
| >>u00a0The Manila hostage crisis occurred when a dismissed Philippine National Police officer took over a tour bus in Manila, on August 23, 2010. Former senior inspectoru00a0 Rolando Mendoza, hijacked a tour bus carrying 25 tourists from Hong Kong. Eight hostages and Mendoza died and nine other people were injured. >> Attacks on Ahmadi mosques The May Lahore attacks occurred on May 28 in Lahore, during Friday prayers. 86 people were killed and more than 120 were injured in attacks against two mosques. >> The Virginia Tech massacre was a school shooting that took place on Monday, April 16, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech in Virginia. In two separate attacks, approximately two hours apart, the perpetrator, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 people and wounded many others before committing suicide. >> The Beslan hostage crisis It was a three day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 300. More than 1,100 people (including 777 children) were taken hostage on 1 September 2004, in Ossetia |
Morning latest
James Lee was gunned down by police officers and the three hostages were rescued at 3:20 am
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