NewsNational News

3 killed, 3 wounded in multi-state shooting in Maryland, Delaware; suspect found

3 killed, 3 wounded in multi-state shooting
3 killed, 3 wounded in multi-state shooting
3 killed, 3 wounded in multi-state shooting
Posted
and last updated

A suspect in shootings in Maryland and Delaware on Wednesday that left three people dead and three others injured was caught in Delaware after a manhunt, authorities said.

Radee Labeeb Prince, 37, is accused of killing three people and wounding two others at his job in Maryland on Wednesday morning. Police say he shot a sixth person about two hours later at a Wilmington, Delaware, car dealership.

Prince was caught in Newark, Delaware, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office in Maryland.

A law enforcement official involved in the investigation told CNN authorities got a tip on Prince's whereabouts and flooded the area. Three agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spotted Prince walking around a neighborhood, smoking a cigar, the source said.

The agents confronted the suspected gunman, who tossed a gun as he took off running. Prince was caught a few blocks away, after a brief chase, the source said.

Authorities recovered a gun that matched the caliber of shells found at the Maryland crime scene, the source said.

The multistate hunt began early Wednesday after Prince drove to Wilimington from the Maryland shooting, about 55 miles away.

In Wilmington, Prince shot the male victim, striking him in the head, shortly before 11 a.m, according to Wilmington Police Chief Robert Tracy.

The victim, who knew Prince, gave police Prince's name and the description of Prince's vehicle, a 2008 black GMC Acadia SUV, Tracy said. Police, who had received an earlier alert about Prince from Maryland officials, spotted the vehicle leaving the scene and briefly chased it, before losing it.

"This is targeted. This individual knew the people he wanted to go shoot," Tracy said earlier of the six victims. "This wasn't a random act of violence where the person went out indiscriminately and was shooting people up."

Tracy said he didn't believe the two shootings were connected.

"The only connection is that he knew the individuals in Maryland and he knew the individual he shot" in Wilmington, Tracy said.

The police chief said Prince and the Wilmington victim have "had beefs, and they've had history together."

Tracy said Prince has a lengthy criminal history, including 42 arrests, mostly for probation violations, and 15 felony convictions. Tracy did not offer details.

"This guy can be anywhere, "Tracy said. "We have New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland in such close proximity of Wilmington."

First shooting in Maryland

Earlier, Prince killed the three victims at the Advanced Granite Solutions home remodeling business where he worked in Edgewood, Maryland, roughly 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, around 9 a.m., Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.

"There's an individual out there on the loose who committed one of the most heinous acts we've ever seen in our county. Certainly, we consider him armed and dangerous," Gahler said.

"We don't know what his intentions are or what his next stop may be," Gahler added.

The two people injured in the Maryland shooting were in critical condition at Baltimore's Shock Trauma Center, Gahler said Wednesday afternoon.

Maryland shooting appears targeted, sheriff says

Prince, of Wilmington, had worked at Advanced Granite Solutions, located in the Emmorton Business Park just south of Interstate 95, for roughly the last four months, Gahler said. Prince was scheduled to work Wednesday, according to the sheriff.

Police were called there at 8:58 a.m., and officers arrived four minutes later, according to the sheriff. The five people shot there are believed to be employees of the business, Gahler said.

The sheriff said a motive isn't known, but, "This does appear to be a target attack limited to that business."

Prince is believed to have shot the five with a handgun, said the sheriff, who added that investigators were speaking with witnesses. Gahler didn't say what the witnesses saw or whether any of them were in the building when the shooting happened.

"I would ask him ... to stop what he has started here today. Enough loss of life ... we can end this peacefully and preserve his life and any more lives that might be in jeopardy," Gahler said.

Gahler said he believed Prince acted alone in the Maryland shooting.

"We do not believe, in this incident here, that he had any assistance whatsoever," Gahler said.

'It's total chaos'

Advanced Granite Solutions designs, manufactures and installs granite, marble and engineered stone countertops, vanity tops and surfaces, in part serving people who are remodeling their kitchens, bathrooms and fireplaces, the company's website says.

The office park includes a number of buildings housing various businesses. Four hotels are across the street and down the road from Advanced Granite Solutions.

Mike Sullivan, who works at a business in the next row of buildings from Advanced Granite Solutions, told CNN affiliate WBAL-TV that a client with a CB radio warned him to take cover, citing reports of a shooter.

"Right now, it's total chaos," Sullivan told WBAL by phone, shortly after the shooting was reported. "We're actually locked in right now with three of our clients."

Aerial video Wednesday morning from WBAL showed numerous police vehicles at the office complex.

Special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the shooting scene to help the sheriff's department, the ATF said.

Five schools in the Edgewood area were placed on lockdown -- meaning students were kept in the buildings, and visitors weren't permitted -- in the morning as a precaution at the advice of the sheriff's office, the county school system said on its website.

The lockdown eventually was lifted, according to a message on the site updated shortly after noon.

"We will proceed with all remaining activities today, including athletic events, as planned," the message read.