SILVER SPRING, Md. — A federal security officer suspected in three fatal shootings outside a high school, a mall and a supermarket in the Washington, D.C., area was arrested Friday, police said.
Eulalio Tordil, an employee of the Federal Protective Service, which provides security at federal properties, was taken into custody without incident near the supermarket, authorities said.
Tordil was put on administrative duties in March after a protective order was issued against him in which his wife said he had threatened to harm her if she left him, The Washington Post reported. Tordil subjected their children to "intense-military-like discipline," like push-ups and detention in a dark closet, Tordil's wife said, according to the order.
Authorities said Tordil followed his 44-year-old wife, Gladys, to their children's high school Thursday. As she waited in an SUV in the parking lot of High Point High, Tordil confronted her and shot her. He also shot and wounded a man who tried to intervene.
The shooting occurred more than an hour after school and no students were harmed.
On Friday morning, about 15 miles from school, police responded to a shooting at the Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. One person was initially shot and two others may have been shot coming to that person's aid, said Montgomery County Police Assistant Chief Darryl McSwain. There was no reason to believe the victims knew the shooter, he said.
A man died and another one was in critical condition, Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks said. A woman had injuries that were not life-threatening.
About a half an hour later, police were called to a shooting at a Giant Food store in Aspen Hill, about 5 miles away. Police later tweeted that a woman died in that shooting.
Around 3 p.m., Tordil was taken into custody near the grocery store.