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Maryland Shooting Leaves Multiple People Dead; Suspect in Custody Employee Kills Three, Then Herself, at Rite Aid Distribution Center in Maryland
(about 2 hours later)
A person with a gun opened fire at a Rite Aid distribution center in Aberdeen, Md., on Thursday morning, killing multiple people and wounding several others, the local sheriff said. A 26-year-old woman opened fire at a Rite Aid distribution center in Aberdeen, Md., on Thursday morning, the authorities said, killing three people and wounding several others in what was the nation’s third shooting at a workplace in less than 24 hours.
The sheriff, Jeffrey R. Gahler of Harford County, did not specify at a preliminary news briefing how many people were killed, though The Associated Press and CNN reported that at least three people were dead. The assailant, a temporary employee at the facility, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler of Harford County, Md., said at a news briefing. The woman, whose last known address was in Baltimore County, had reported for work as usual before carrying out the attack with a single weapon, a Glock 9-millimeter handgun.
The lone suspect in the shooting is in custody and has been hospitalized in critical condition, Sheriff Gahler said. The person carried out the attack with a single weapon, a handgun. “We believe the shooting incident began outside and then moved into the front of the building,” Sheriff Gahler said, adding that the investigation was still preliminary.
“There were no shots fired by any of the law enforcement officers responding to the scene,” the sheriff said. “We do not believe that there is an additional threat.” Two people died at the scene, while another died at a hospital, he said. Three people were wounded and are expected to survive. Sheriff Gahler did not identify the victims or the suspect.
Rite Aid employs nearly 1,000 people at the distribution center, where products are received from manufacturers and vendors and processed for delivery to stores, according to Susan Henderson, a company spokeswoman. The shooting occurred at the Liberty Support Facility on the distribution center’s campus. Rite Aid employs nearly 1,000 people at the distribution center, where products are received from manufacturers and vendors and processed for delivery to stores, according to Susan Henderson, a company spokeswoman. The shooting occurred at the Liberty support facility on the distribution center’s campus.
“We are closely monitoring the horrific shooting in Aberdeen,” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said before the news conference. “Our prayers are with all those impacted, including our first responders.” Steffon Williams, who works for a food distribution company next door, said that he did not hear the shots but that he was outside his building on a cigarette break when teams of law enforcement officers arrived.
Four people with gunshot wounds were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Dr. Raymond Fang, the hospital’s trauma medical director, said at a news conference. The patients are all adults and some required surgery, he said. Dr. Fang did not say whether that group included the assailant. “They told us to go inside and secured the building and locked it down,” said Mr. Williams, 25. “We were told there was an active shooter situation going on in the building next door and that we should stay inside and await further instructions.”
“To us, they’re all patients,” he said. At an intersection outside Enterprise Business Park, where the distribution center is located, police kept reporters and photographers away from the scene of the shooting as local traffic backed up along a two-lane road bordered by suburban homes and a graveyard.
Another individual was transported to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Del., and is in serious condition, according to a spokesman there. Early in the morning, Alexi Scharmann told WBAL-TV, an NBC affiliate, that her mother, who works at the Liberty facility, had texted Ms. Scharmann to let her know that there was a shooting in the building.
“I am hiding,” her mother said. “I love you. Be good and take care of daddy and the pets if something should happen.”
A screenshot of the text messages, which Ms. Scharmann said she had received at about 9:30 a.m., spread quickly online. Near the end of the interview, she discovered that her mother had made it out safely.
Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said in a tweet that he was “wholeheartedly grateful” for the emergency officials who responded to the shooting.
“The First Lady and I are grieving for the loss of life in today’s shooting in Harford County, and praying that those who were injured fully recover,” he said.
Rite Aid said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened by the events that transpired this morning.” The company said the facility is closed and grief counselors are available for employees who were affected.
The attack in Aberdeen, just over 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, was at least the third shooting in a workplace in 24 hours. Early on Wednesday, a man opened fire at the Wisconsin software company where he worked, injuring several people before he was killed by the police. Later that day, another man walked into a municipal building south of Pittsburgh and shot four people before killing himself.
“No matter where you work, learn, play, or live — you have a right to feel safe, and I’m horrified that that’s no longer the reality in America,” said Gabrielle Giffords, a former Arizona congresswoman turned gun control advocate who was shot in the head while on the job in 2011.
The authorities received reports of shots fired at the distribution center at 9:06 a.m. and were on the scene within five minutes, the sheriff’s office said. The Maryland State Police and several federal agencies assisted in the response, including the F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.The authorities received reports of shots fired at the distribution center at 9:06 a.m. and were on the scene within five minutes, the sheriff’s office said. The Maryland State Police and several federal agencies assisted in the response, including the F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The shooting comes one day after a man opened fire at a Wisconsin software company where he worked, injuring several people before he was killed by the police. The shooting was one of several to take place in Maryland this year. In March, a high school student in Great Mills, Md., killed a former girlfriend and injured another student before killing himself. In June, a gunman killed five people in a shooting in the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md.
Aberdeen is just over 30 miles northeast of Baltimore and about 60 miles from Annapolis, Md., where a gunman killed five people in a shooting in the Capital Gazette newsroom in June.
This is a developing story — check back for updates.