Three people have been killed and another seriously injured after a gunman opened fire on a factory in the state of Maryland.
Three people were killed and multiple were injured, including a police officer, during a “mass shooting” on Thursday at a Maryland factory, police said.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of an active shooter around 2:30 p.m. at Columbia Machine in Smithsburg, near the Pennsylvania border.
Police arrived at the scene and found four victims: three were dead inside and one was “seriously injured” in a field outside the facility. The gunman had fled before they arrived, police said.
The sheriff’s department released a description of the suspect and his vehicle was located shortly afterwards by Maryland State Police a few miles away.
The suspect and a state agent exchanged gunfire and both were injured, the sheriff’s department said.
Both were taken to area hospitals for treatment, police said. Their conditions are unknown.
Police said “there is no confirmed active threat to the community in connection with this incident.”
The four victims were found at the scene and the gunman was a factory employee, Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore told a news conference Thursday evening.
The three murderers were identified as Mark Alan Frey, 50; Charles Edward Minnick, 31; and Joshua Robert Wallace, 30, said the sheriff. The man who was seriously injured outside was 42-year-old Brandon Chase Michael.
The gunman was only identified as a 23-year-old West Virginia man. He has not been named because he has not been formally charged, but police “are currently in the process of doing so,” Douglas said.
After realizing that the suspect had fled, the sheriff’s department released a description of the suspect and his vehicle. A vehicle that matches the description was quickly located a few miles away by Maryland State Police heading to the scene.
The suspect and a state agent exchanged gunfire and both were injured, the sheriff’s department said.
“When the soldiers went to stop the vehicle, the suspect immediately started firing meat at the soldiers,” said Bill Dofflemyer of the Maryland State Police Criminal Investigation Bureau. “Soldiers returned fire and beat the suspect. During the shooting, one soldier was wounded.”
Both were taken to area hospitals for treatment, where the suspect is in police custody.
“The police are fine and the suspect is still being treated,” Dofflemeyer said.
The gunman used a semi-automatic pistol in the killings, which was recovered from his vehicle, police said. It is unclear what caused the shooting.
“The motive for the shooting has not been determined at this time,” Mullendore said.
The Baltimore Division of the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said officers were sent to the scene. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also responded to assist in the investigation, police said.
The incident is the latest mass shooting in the United States, just two weeks after 19 fourth-graders and two teachers were killed by a gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and less than a month after 10 blacks were killed in a race. shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission