Smithsburg shooting victims at Columbia Machine identified as 23 year old Hispanic man id as gunman and taken into custody. All Maryland victims were white men. No known motive.
A Hispanic factory worker has been identified as being the gunman in the latest mass shooting in the U.S which led to 3 co-workers fatally shot dead at a Smithsburg, Maryland, manufacturing factory, Thursday afternoon.
The gunman, who fled the shooting and was later shot and arrested by pursuing cops, 5 miles from the slaughter was not immediately identified as he remained hospitalised and now in police custody.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office went on to identity the 3 fatal victims as three white males: Mark Alan Frey, 50, Charles Edward Minnick Jr., 31 and Joshua Robert Wallace, 30.
Police while declining to name the gunman, pending filing of charges, said the shooter was a 23-year-old Hispanic male who resided in West Virginia.
Cops said the victims and the suspect were current employees of Columbia Machine, Inc.
#Smithsburg
Eyewitness video of gun battle between suspect and law enforcement via FB📷: Harleigh Rae https://t.co/GRAeBKjrer pic.twitter.com/VHx7eIFCpo
— Shane B. Murphy (@shanermurph) June 9, 2022
semi-automatic handgun used
A fourth worker, who was also shot but survived was identified as Brandon Chase Michael, a 42-year-old white male.
It remained unclear how the four workers came to be shot, whether the gunman specifically targeted them or were shot randomly.
A pursuing state trooper also incurred injuries after engaging the fleeing gunman as he drove in a red vehicle before being rail-loaded by pursuing cops. The officer was later released from hospital and identified as a 25 year veteran with the Maryland State Troopers.
Upon shooting his victims, circa 2.30pm, Thursday afternoon, the 23 year old assailant fled the scene before being taken into custody following a shootout with police.
The 23-year-old assailant was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with a Maryland state trooper while trying to flee in a car, Washington County Sheriff Douglas Mullendore told a news conference.
Both the suspect and trooper were taken to a local hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds
Offered Mullendore: ‘The weapon used at both scenes was a semi-automatic handgun. The exact caliber, make and model are also not being released at this time.
Motive not known
‘The motive for the shooting is still under investigation and there remains no active threat to the community.
‘We are also relieved to report that, per the Maryland State Police spokesperson, the Trooper that was injured in the exchange of gunfire with the suspect received non-life-threatening injuries and has been treated and released from Meritus Medical Center’.
A Columbia Machine spokesperson said the company was cooperating with authorities in their probe into the shooting but declined to comment further.
The company supplies concrete manufacturing equipment to customers in over 100 countries, according to its website.
Smithsburg, a community of nearly 3,000 people, is located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Baltimore not far from the Maryland line with Pennsylvania.
So far in 2022, there have been at least 250 mass shootings reported. So far in June, there have been 19 mass shootings, according to The Washington Post.
