TV station evacuated due to possible bomb threat, suspect shot
A police sniper shot a man wearing a costume after he made alleged threats after entering WBFF -- the FOX television affiliate in Baltimore -- on Thursday afternoon, according to police.
Three loud "shots" were heard and the man was seen lying in the street. The man, described to be in his 20s, is still alive but not cooperating with police. His identity is unknown.
See more from the scene:
"They sent a robot, the robot is going over right now and is kind of assessing. so he's kind of looking at the robot and the team is sitting there by the car, waiting to see what he's going to do. Because he's still alive and his hands are still kind of moving," the station's meteorologist Vytas Reid said.
RAW VIDEO: Some users may find this footage disturbing (viewer discretion advised)
"The suspect is not deceased," police spokesman T.J. Smith said. "It is still an evolving situation."
The robot searched the suspect's clothing for an hour for any explosives before they approached him and put him inside an armored van.
The investigation revealed the alleged bomb was actually chocolate candy bars linked together with wire and what looked like a motherboard, the Baltimore Sun reports.
Earlier in the afternoon, the suspect's car was found on fire in the TV station's parking lot and then things turned worse when a man appeared in the building's vestibule and reportedly "had a message to give" and that he wanted the station to cover some sort of government conspiracy, according to WBFF. Some report that he dressed in an animal onesie costume and had a bomb strapped to his chest.
WBFF security director Jourael Apostolides said in an interview the man handed him a thumb drive and that the suspect said he had a message, wanted to be heard and that everyone in the building should exit.
"At first I thought it was a joke, but then he kept on saying he didn't want to hurt anyone or me," the security director said.
"It's unusual and different when the news comes to your own backyard," one of the station's cameraman said during a live video stream.
Police blocked off the road surrounding WBFF as they investigated the situation. Video via Periscope was live streaming from the scene (click here to see some coverage).
WBFF news director Mike Tomko says employees were a little worried but remained professional throughout the ordeal.
"Someone came into the front of the building and they apparently said that they had some information they wanted to get on the air," Tomko told reporters.
The FBI's Baltimore field office was closely monitoring the situation and offered to help police, a law enforcement official told FOX News.
The area is also home to two other TV stations and one radio station.
