Police sealed off the area around Discovery’s headquarters A gunman who had taken three hostages at the Discovery Communications headquarters in the US has been shot and his captives are free, police say.
The gunman, named by US media as James Lee, had metallic canisters strapped to his chest and a handgun when he entered the building near Washington, DC.
Discovery employees were evacuated from the building shortly after the incident began at around 1800GMT.
The area around the building, in Silver Spring, Maryland, was sealed off.
Montgomery County Police Chief J Thomas Manger said a man entered the Discovery headquarters through the main entrance wearing what appeared to be “metallic canisters” on his clothes.
The man then pulled out a handgun and told everyone to remain still.
Discovery Channel headquarters is located in Maryland, just outside Washington, DC Unnamed police officials quoted by the US media named the gunman as James Jay Lee, a man in his 40s known for protesting outside the building.
A man called James Lee of San Diego, California was arrested outside Discovery’s headquarters in 2008 after throwing thousands of dollars into the air in protest against the network, according to The Gazette, a local newspaper.
Mr Lee said he threw the money because Discovery’s programming had little to do with saving the planet.
Discovery Communications reaches 1.5bn subscribers in 180 countries through networks like Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Science Channel.
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