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Police end hostage drama at US Discovery Channel

2010-09-02 06:46

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Police shot a gunman who had taken three people hostage at Discovery Channel's headquarters on Wednesday, ending a tense four-hour standoff near Washington.

Police end hostage drama at US Discovery Channel
The Discovery Communications headquarters building is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland in this December 3, 2009 file photo. One hostage has been taken by a man with a handgun at the Discovery Channel headquarters building in suburban Washington, Montgomery County police told ABC television on September 1, 2010. [Agencies]

The hostages were safe. The gunman, who apparently objected to the TV channel's environmental coverage, died, NBC television network said, quoting law enforcement sources.

"The suspect was shot by police officers. A device appeared to go off, we haven't confirmed that," Tom Manger, Montgomery County police chief, told reporters.

Police earlier said the man, named by a US law enforcement official as James Lee, appeared to be wearing metallic canister devices that might have been explosives.

Police had monitored the gunman on the building's closed-circuit security system and had negotiated with him by telephone.

A man called James Lee of San Diego was arrested in February 2008 after throwing money into the air in a protest outside the Discovery building, the Montgomery County Gazette reported that year.

A website registered under the name of James Lee contained demands that Discovery air programming urging people to stop having babies, which he says is leading to the overpopulation of the planet.

"Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is," says the site, http://savetheplanetprotest.com. "Saving the Planet means saving what's left of the non-human Wildlife by decreasing the Human population. That means stopping the human race from breeding any more disgusting human babies!" it says.

Police sealed off the area around the building and SWAT teams were deployed at the scene shortly after the suspect entered the building carrying a handgun at about 1 pm EDT.

The building was ordered evacuated and children were removed from a day-care center.

Nearly 1,900 employees work in the building, in a busy shopping and commuter hub just north of the US capital.

Discovery Communications says it reaches 1.5 billion subscribers in more than 180 countries with the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and Planet Green networks.

Police end hostage drama at US Discovery Channel
Montgomery County police vehicles keep a roadblock near the Discovery Channel headquarters building in Silver Spring, Maryland, September 1, 2010. [Agencies]

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