Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press Published Thursday, June 9, 2022 4:36 PM EDT Last Updated on Thursday, June 9, 2022 22:47 EDT
SMITHSBURG, Md. (AP) – Employee opened fire on a manufacturing business in rural West Maryland on Thursday, killing three co-workers before the suspect and a state agent were injured in a shooting, authorities said .
Washington County Sheriff Doug Mullendore said three victims were found dead at Columbia Machine Inc. in Smithsburg and a fourth victim was seriously injured. The sheriff said at a news conference that the victims and the suspect were all employees of the facility.
The suspect fled in a vehicle before authorities arrived at the scene and was located by Maryland State Police, Mullendore said. The suspect and an officer were injured in an exchange of gunfire, according to the sheriff.
Mullendore said the suspect was a 42-year-old man, but declined to disclose his name while criminal charges were being prepared.
The sheriff identified the dead in the shooting as 50-year-old Mark Alan Frey; Charles Edward Minnick Jr., 31; and Joshua Robert Wallace, 30. Mullendore said the injured victim was Brandon Chase Michael, 42.
Maryland State Police Lt. Col. Bill Dofflemyer said three police officers found the suspect’s vehicle and opened fire when officers made a traffic stop. Firefighters returned fire and wounded the suspect. Dofflemyer said the injured policeman was OK and the suspect was being cared for Thursday night.
Authorities declined to comment.
“We’re still working with the sheriff’s office on what happened and why it continued to grow,” Dofflemyer told reporters.
Mullendore said the suspect used a semi-automatic pistol, which was recovered after the shooting. He declined to specify the caliber or model.
Relatives of the manufacturer’s workers gathered at a fire station in downtown Smithsburg on Thursday evening, awaiting information about their loved ones. They refused to talk to a journalist.
Several hours after the shooting, numerous police officers remained at the scene. Police had closed the road in front of the Columbia Machine Inc. facility. and the yellow ribbon blew in the wind out of business.
Messages left to request feedback from the company were not returned immediately.
Smithsburg, a community of about 3,000 people, is located just west of Camp David’s presidential retreat and about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Baltimore. The manufacturing facility was located in a sparsely populated area northeast of the city center with a church, several businesses and farmland nearby.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, lamented the loss of life in his state so soon after other recent shootings and promised action.
“Today’s horrific shooting comes when our state and nation have witnessed tragedy after tragedy, and it must stop,” it said in a statement. “We need to act to address the mass shootings and the daily number of armed violence in our communities.”
David Creamer, 69, is a member of the Smithburg Volunteer Fire Department and has lived in the city since 1988. He saw the shooting alerts come out shortly before 3 p.m.
Creamer said the last deadly shooting he can remember in Smithsburg was about a decade ago.
“These things don’t happen here,” Creamer said. “Everyone knows almost everyone. It’s a family atmosphere. We take care of each other.”
Creamer was chatting with neighbors at a Little League game on Thursday night. He was wearing a T-shirt promoting a gun rights organization.
Filming “makes me feel even stronger about it. I just think I should be able to protect my family and my neighbors. In a community like this, everyone is your neighbor,” he said.
Funeral attendant Ashley Vigrass, 29, lives less than a mile from the shooting. He was at home with his two children when his girlfriend called to tell him about the shooting and urged her to keep the children inside the house.
“The helicopters were out,” he said.
When asked if she was shaken by the shooting, Vigrass said, “I feel like we come from a time of desensitization.”
“You feel something, but it’s the same thing you felt yesterday,” he added as he watched the Little League match. “It’s a shame, but you just have to make sure the kids are safe to play baseball and keep going.”
— Associated Press writer Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.