Suspect Shot, Taken Into Custody Following Barricade Situation At FOX 45

A young man in an animal costume and surgical mask who walked into Baltimore TV station WBFF FOX 45 Thursday claiming to have a bomb was shot and wounded by police, who determined that his alleged explosive consisted of aluminum-wrapped chocolate bars duct-taped to a flotation device.

Police spokesman TJ Smith says the man is hospitalized in serious but stable condition. He was not yet named at a briefing late Thursday afternoon, as he has not yet been charged, but Smith said he is a 25-year-old white male believed to be from Howard County. Police had no further information about the suspect's background.

"It's become all to common in America for us to gather like this to examine the bizarre, dangerous behavior of a singular individual," police Commissioner Kevin Davis said. "I don't have a rational explanation for irrational behavior."

Davis said the man voluntarily walked out of the building and across 41st Street, but did not listen to officers' orders and kept his hands in his pockets. That's when three officers fired a total of at least three shots, striking the suspect at least once. As there was still what he claimed to be a bomb attached to his chest, he remained on the median of 41st Street and is conscious. Police are interacting with him and manipulating his body using a bomb-handling robot.

The device strapped to his chest was actually made up of candy bars wrapped with foil, connected with wiring, a motherboard and apparent fire extinguisher parts wired to a handheld apparatus all meant to resemble a real explosive.

"It does not appear this device was something capable of being an actual explosive," Smith said.



A motive is not yet known.

"Why did he do this? We don't know the answer to that, and we want to know the answer to that," Davis said.

Davis said he realizes people will raise questions about the fact that the man has not yet been treated by paramedics, but emphasized police can't guarantee that the device strapped to the man is safe. The robot has removed the hedgehog onesie worn by the man and removed the rest of his clothes before he was eventually loaded by SWAT officers into an armored vehicle, then an ambulance.

"We want to treat him," Davis said.

WBFF reporters and staff from nearby stations are tweeting from the scene. All staff and police are accounted for.

Video of man walking out of @FOXBaltimore pic.twitter.com/3Q2i4gwtw6 — Shelley Orman (@ShelleyOFox45) April 28, 2016

Loud bangs at Fox45... pic.twitter.com/UCKZM0bkwv — Paul McGrew (@McGrewFox45) April 28, 2016

The studio is in the 2000 block of West 41st Street. The building was evacuated around the time police were called at 1:20 p.m. and police and fire resources responded to the scene.

"I would say I've never had to evacuate because of a threat," said WBFF-TV news director Mike Tomko, who added the station's newscasts tonight would proceed as usual if they're allowed back inside.

If not, The Baltimore Sun reports, they will carry the newscast from sister station WJLA or use a remote production truck to broadcast from across the street.

"[The newsroom employees] are a little worried, but everybody's safe," Tomko said. "They're all professionals."

He said it's not unusual for people to visit the station trying to get their message across, but what happened here is: a man wearing a mask and sunglasses entered and said he had a bomb.

The security guard, Jourel Apostolidies, said the man handed him a flash drive. On the drive were videos of the man talking to the camera about what he believed were government conspiracies.

"My first thought was to get him out," he said. "My first instinct was to make sure he keeps his cool head."

The man was wearing a hedgehog onesie, light vest and combat boots, Apostolidies said. After he issued a request for staff to evacuate, he said he sat down and talked with the man.

"I'm not going to say I saw a bomb, what I saw was an attempt to make a fake bomb," he said.

Police credited the work of staff like Apostolidies for surreptitiously calling 911 and facilitating a safe and orderly evacuation.

In 2014, a disturbed man rammed a dump truck into the studios of WMAR-TV in Towson, an incident police spokesman TJ Smith noted led other broadcasters in Baltimore to step up security. The suspect in Thursday's incident got no further than the vestibule.

Davis said a car fire at the scene was arson-related, with a rag around the area of the gas tank. He said police needed to check the other vehicles and the rest of the building, though it's not clear whether the car fire and bomb scare are directly related.

"We're going to be here for a while," Davis said.

LIVE on #Periscope: Fox Baltimore bomb threat https://t.co/eEbYmcWdiw — Casey Clark (@CaseyClarkjr) April 28, 2016

Bomb threat at @FOXBaltimore building. Suspicious person in our lobby. pic.twitter.com/iPDCh2i0Hf — Keith Daniels Fox45 (@KeithDFox45) April 28, 2016

Reporters for Fox 45 say a man walked into the lobby and claimed he had a bomb.

LIVE on #Periscope: Fire in Fox45 parking lot https://t.co/6Zh4i8vNQl — Paul Gessler (@PaulGessler) April 28, 2016

Staff were told to stand back from the building.