Police sniper shoots man who says he has bomb at TV station

A man wearing a full animal costume and surgical mask walks out of a TV station in Baltimore on Thursday, April 28, 2016.
A man wearing a full animal costume and surgical mask walks out of a TV station in Baltimore on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

5:15 P.M. UPDATE:

Authorities say the "bomb" a man claimed to be wearing when he walked into a television station wearing an animal costume was in reality a red flotation-style garment stuffed with chocolate candy bars wrapped in aluminum foil.

Department spokesman T.J. Smith said a police sniper shot the man Thursday after he refused to put his hands up. Smith said that after a robot removed the suspicious garment, the man was taken to a local hospital, where he was in serious but stable condition.

Smith said the man walked into the lobby of WBFF-TV on Baltimore's Television Hill about 1:20 p.m. wearing a panda costume, the red garment, and a surgical mask.

He said the man gave a flash drive to a security guard and said he wanted the station to broadcast it. Smith does not know what was on the flash drive.

Smith described the suspect as a 25-year-old white male from Howard County. He said he will not be identified until he is charged.

EARLIER:

BALTIMORE — Baltimore police say a department sniper shot a man who walked into a TV station lobby wearing a full animal costume and surgical mask and displaying what appeared to be an explosive device on his chest.

Department spokesman T.J. Smith said the man is alive and conscious and communicating with authorities through a robot designed to detect explosives.

Smith said officers and paramedics cannot approach the man until they can determine he doesn't have an explosive device or until any such device has been neutralized.

Smith said the man walked into the lobby of a Fox television affiliate Thursday and made a complaint about the government. Police say the suspect walked outside, followed by heavily armed officers.

Smith said the suspect was shot after he refused repeated demands to show his hands.

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