FREDERICK, Md. — A Navy medic shot and critically wounded two people at a Maryland business park Tuesday, then fled to a nearby military base where he was shot and killed, police and U.S. Navy officials said.
What You Need To Know
- A Navy medic shot two men at a business park in Frederick, Maryland, on Tuesday morning, police said
- The gunman then drove to the nearby Fort Detrick military base, where he was fatally shot by personnel there, authorities said
- The two victims were flown by helicopter to a Baltimore trauma center and are in critical condition
- Police said they believe there was only one gunman and that the community is no longer in any danger
The man entered a business around 8:20 a.m. at the Riverside Tech Park, causing people inside to flee, but it was unclear if the shooting took place inside or outside, Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando said.
When police arrived, they found that two adult men had been wounded. They were flown by helicopter to a Baltimore trauma center and are in critical condition.
Jeremy Mutschler, director of marketing for Nicolock Paving Stones, said that his understanding is that the shooting was near the company’s Frederick location but not at the business itself.
“One of the victims who was wounded entered our facility looking for help, and we were able to assist and call the authorities,” said Mutschler, who is based in New York.
The shooter, a 38-year-old man, then drove to Fort Detrick, about 4 miles away, where he was fatally shot by personnel there, police said.
Police said they believe there was only one gunman and that the community is no longer in any danger.
Authorities did not provide any more information about the gunman or his motive. A second press conference is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
The U.S. Navy released an initial statement saying there was an “active shooter incident” at Fort Detrick “involving U.S. sailors” and that the shooter, a Navy medic assigned to the base, was killed. Fort Detrick officials later confirmed that the man who was killed on base was the same person who shot the two people at the business park.
Fort Detrick spokeswoman Lanessa Hill said the gunman drove through a gate at an entrance to the base before base personnel confronted him on a road.
“It wasn’t that long before he came through the gate. Not even a quarter of a mile,” Hill said. She said Frederick police had given them advance notice, “so we knew that he was out there.”
Lando called the shootings “very tragic.”
“It’s happening too frequently,” he said. “Every time we turn on the TV, we’re seeing something like this happen. And now it’s happening in our backyard. So no one wants to see this type of thing.”
Frederick, a city of around 70,000 people, is located about 50 miles northwest of Baltimore.
Fort Detrick is a U.S. Army base in Frederick that is home to the military’s flagship biological defense laboratory and several federal civilian biodefense labs.
