A young man in an animal costume and surgical mask who walked into Baltimore TV station WBFF FOX 45 Thursday claiming to have a bomb was shot and wounded by police, who determined that his alleged explosive consisted of aluminum-wrapped chocolate bars duct-taped to a flotation device.
Police spokesman TJ Smith says the man is hospitalized in serious but stable condition. He was not yet named at a briefing late Thursday afternoon, as he has not yet been charged, but Smith said he is a 25-year-old white male believed to be from Howard County. Police had no further information about the suspect's background.
"It's become all to common in America for us to gather like this to examine the bizarre, dangerous behavior of a singular individual," police Commissioner Kevin Davis said. "I don't have a rational explanation for irrational behavior."
Davis said the man voluntarily walked out of the building and across 41st Street, but did not listen to officers' orders and kept his hands in his pockets. That's when three officers fired a total of at least three shots, striking the suspect at least once. As there was still what he claimed to be a bomb attached to his chest, he remained on the median of 41st Street and is conscious. Police are interacting with him and manipulating his body using a bomb-handling robot.
The device strapped to his chest was actually made up of candy bars wrapped with foil, connected with wiring, a motherboard and apparent fire extinguisher parts wired to a handheld apparatus all meant to resemble a real explosive.
"It does not appear this device was something capable of being an actual explosive," Smith said.
A motive is not yet known.
"Why did he do this? We don't know the answer to that, and we want to know the answer to that," Davis said.
Davis said he realizes people will raise questions about the fact that the man has not yet been treated by paramedics, but emphasized police can't guarantee that the device strapped to the man is safe. The robot has removed the hedgehog onesie worn by the man and removed the rest of his clothes before he was eventually loaded by SWAT officers into an armored vehicle, then an ambulance.
"We want to treat him," Davis said
WBFF reporters and staff from nearby stations are tweeting from the scene. All staff and police are accounted for.
The studio is in the 2000 block of West 41st Street. The building was evacuated around the time police were called at 1:20 p.m. and police and fire resources responded to the scene.
"I would say I've never had to evacuate because of a threat," said WBFF-TV news director Mike Tomko, who added the station's newscasts tonight would proceed as usual if they're allowed back inside.
If not, The Baltimore Sun reports, they will carry the newscast from sister station WJLA or use a remote production truck to broadcast from across the street.
"[The newsroom employees] are a little worried, but everybody's safe," Tomko said. "They're all professionals."
He said it's not unusual for people to visit the station trying to get their message across, but what happened here is: a man wearing a mask and sunglasses entered and said he had a bomb.
The security guard, Jourel Apostolidies, said the man handed him a flash drive. On the drive were videos of the man talking to the camera about what he believed were government conspiracies.
"My first thought was to get him out," he said. "My first instinct was to make sure he keeps his cool head."
The man was wearing a hedgehog onesie, light vest and combat boots, Apostolidies said. After he issued a request for staff to evacuate, he said he sat down and talked with the man.
"I'm not going to say I saw a bomb, what I saw was an attempt to make a fake bomb," he said.
Police credited the work of staff like Apostolidies for surreptitiously calling 911 and facilitating a safe and orderly evacuation.
In 2014, a disturbed man rammed a dump truck into the studios of WMAR-TV in Towson, an incident police spokesman TJ Smith noted led other broadcasters in Baltimore to step up security. The suspect in Thursday's incident got no further than the vestibule.
Davis said a car fire at the scene was arson-related, with a rag around the area of the gas tank. He said police needed to check the other vehicles and the rest of the building, though it's not clear whether the car fire and bomb scare are directly related.
"We're going to be here for a while," Davis said.
>hedgehog onesie
You can't make this shit up America, Jesus you're all insane
>>72375147
>>72375306
>looked like a bomb but it wasn't
obama should invite him tot he white house
>>72375609
Why?
>>72375609
>nice cock Doomfur Shadowpaw
Please entertain my outside idea.
U.S. government is all powerful
U.S. government controls media
U.S. government stages weird skeptical
Why? Look around what is happening today? What is going to happen today?
Trump is being plastered as the 'true establishment candidate' and Ted is being pushed hard by conservative talk radio as the 'real conservative'.
Trump is being cucked by all sides. If he does not denounce his ties with John Boner he is looking to lose a lot of following.
Don't let them fool you. Xanax is the new heroin.
furfags BTFO
>He said it's not unusual for people to visit the station trying to get their message across, but what happened here is: a man wearing a mask and sunglasses entered and said he had a bomb.
>The security guard, Jourel Apostolidies, said the man handed him a flash drive. On the drive were videos of the man talking to the camera about what he believed were government conspiracies.
>>72375147
They killed that fucker? Nice
>>72375732
Look up clock kid
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
>>72377240
Wounded
>>72377024
Pls stop
>>72377405
He was innocent
>hedgehog onesie
may god have mercy on us all
>>72377593
He took a fake bomb to school and had itset off an alarm in class at least once
>>72377669
No he didn't
So how do we find this guy's YouTube channel
>>72375585
GOTTA JIHAD FAST
>>72377618
Is this a new meme?
how much american am I if I said that you should get shot for doing this?
>>72377767
Look for videos of a guy in a hedgehog onesie
>>72377739
What? Yes he did. Google it, retard.
>JUST A PRANK, BRO
>>72375147
>white
>looks like Eric Andre
>>72375147
I'm sure a hoax bomb carries a hefty penalty.
Unless your're a shitskin. You get to go to the white house and jet off to Qatar
>>72378427
He never said it was anything other than a clock, teachers school admin went nutty
>>72378686
Australia if you don't stop shitposting I'll start posting pictures of birds
>>72378502
You really can't see anything besides a lot of hair and the surgical mask
>>72375585
>hedgehog onesie
>You can't make this shit up
Apparently you can, every source I read says "Panda suit".
Nice try, Dundee.
>>72378605
Why do you need to lie?
>>72378839
>>72378832
>it was a panda onesie not a hedgehog you fucking casual
Oh well that's perfectly normal them
>>72378839
Hi Ahmed
>>72378915
Come at me bro
Suicide by cop
>>72378956
Exactly.
You don't have an annual Panda-chocolate-bar-bomb-scare in Abo-land? What kind of savages are you?
>>72379285
>wounded
>loaded into ambulance and taken to hospital
>>72375147
>25-year-old white male
Would they have ever mentioned race if he wasn't?
>>72379608
Who else would do something this stupid and bizarre
