4 dead, including suspect, after Maryland warehouse shooting

By Associated Press

Sept. 20, 2018 1:10 PM PT

Reporting from Aberdeen, Md. — A shooting at a Maryland warehouse claimed four lives Thursday, including a female suspect who shot herself in the head, authorities said. At least three other people were wounded.

The suspect was a 26-year-old temporary employee at the Rite Aid distribution center near Aberdeen in northeastern Maryland, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler told a news conference.

She was taken into custody in critical condition after the morning rampage and later died. Her name was not immediately released.

The other three people who died were not identified.

Three other wounded people were being treated at a hospital.

It appears only one weapon, a handgun, was used and no shots were fired by law enforcement officers who had rushed to the scene, Gahler said.

Krystal Watson, 33, said her husband, Eric, works at the facility and told her that the shooter was a female co-worker. Watson said her husband told her that the woman had been arguing with somebody else near a time clock after a “town hall meeting.”

“And she went off,” she said.

Watson said her husband told her the shooting started in a break room.

“She didn’t have a particular target. She was just shooting,” she said at a fire station where relatives were being reunited with loved ones who work at the center.

“She didn’t aim. She just shot,” Watson said.

A Baltimore hospital said it had received four patients with gunshot wounds from the shooting. Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center spokeswoman Monica Stone said in an email Thursday that she was unable to provide details about the patients’ conditions.

Gahler said the call about shots fired came in from the distribution center at about 9:06 a.m. and deputies and other officers were on the scene in just over five minutes.

Mike Carre, an employee of a furniture logistics operation next to where the violence erupted, says he helped tend to a wounded man.

Carre locked the doors of his workplace after the injured man came hobbling in, bleeding from his leg. He called 911 from a bathroom before helping colleagues wrap the man’s blood-soaked jeans above his injury to cut off blood flow.

An officer with a sniffing dog walks out the industrial complex in Harford County, Md., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018.

Reggie Rodgriguez’s mother works at the distribution center. His wife had tried calling her numerous times but got no answer.

“I was calling her all morning. It went to voicemail because they keep their phones in lockers,” said Kelly Rodriguez, 40.

When they finally reached his mother Thursday afternoon, Reggie Rodriguez said, “That’s all I wanted to do: Hear her voice.” His mother was uninjured. He said she sounded relieved the crisis was over.

A law enforcement official said authorities were working their way through the distribution center to clear the facility.

“We obviously need to methodically go through the entire complex, ensure there are no other victims inside, ensure that there is no one that was hiding from violence and ensure that there were no other suspects,” said Christie Hopkins is communications director for the Harford County sheriff’s office.

“At this time, we are confident that the suspect acted alone. And that person is in custody. We do not believe there is any further threat to the community now, but we still have to completely clear that building.”

The attack came nearly three months after a man armed with a shotgun attacked a newspaper office in Annapolis, Maryland, killing five staff members. Authorities accused Jarrod W. Ramos of attacking The Capital Gazette because of a longstanding grudge against the paper.

The FBI described the Aberdeen incident as an “active shooter situation” and said its Baltimore field office was assisting.

In a tweet, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said his office is monitoring the situation in Aberdeen and that the state stands ready to offer any support.

Susan Henderson, spokesman for the drugstore chain Rite Aid, said the shooting happened on the campus of a company distribution center in Aberdeen. She described it as a support facility adjacent to a larger building.

Harford County Executive Barry Glassman said that unfortunately, incidents like this are “becoming a too-often occurrence not only in Harford County but in the country.”

UPDATES:

1:10 p.m.: This article was updated with a report on the shooter’s death.

9:40 a.m.: This article was updated with a report on the shooter’s condition.

8:35 a.m.: This article was updated with a report of three people killed.

8:20 a.m.: This article was updated with a report that multiple people were killed.

This article was originally published at 7:35 a.m.