Discovery Channel hostage taker shot dead by police

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Parent Category: Africa and The World

Category: The World

Created on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 00:00

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Discovery Channel hostage taker shot dead by police

Hostage crisis at Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland ends with safe escape of all three hostages.

A man has been shot and killed by police after taking three people hostage in the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in the US.

Police said all the hostages had escaped safely following the siege, which began when a man entered the building in Silver Spring, Maryland, waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his chest.

Officers spent several hours negotiating with the man, who was reported to be unhappy with the network's programming schedule.

Montgomery County Police Chief, Thomas Manger, said an 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 man, who is yet to be formally identified, entered the building at around 1pm local time.

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.

Police believe the 1,900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely.

While police are yet to name the man, a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said authorities have identified James Lee, who has a track record of protesting against the Discovery Corporation, as the likely perpetrator.

Visitors to Lee's MySpace profile were invited to see "The idea I had to save the planet" by visiting a website apparently set up by the 43-year-old called savetheplanetprotest.com. It was unclear whether the length posting on the website was recent, but it railed against Discovery Communications at length, calling on it to broadcast "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility".

Discovery Communications operates cable and satellite networks in the US and elsewhere, including the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet. The network's schedule includes a programme following the fortunes of a couple whose family included sextuplets and twins and another which follows the fate of a family of nine boys and 10 girls.

Adam Dolan, a sales director in Discovery's education division, said he was heading to lunch with a colleague when he heard there was a situation in the building.

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.

Dolan said: "Everyone was very scared, but at the same time ... I think people were calm and collected and responded as one would expect in this situation."

Adam Gabbatt and agencies

Credit: Guardian/UK

Wednesday 1 September 2010