A man with San Diego ties who entered the Discovery Communications building in Silver Springs, Md., with explosives strapped to himself Wednesday afternoon, then took three hostages, was killed by police later in the day, officials said.
Throughout the afternoon, law enforcement authorities talked to the man, whom they identified as James Jay Lee. The suspect was in his early 40s and was a longtime protester at the building who was sentenced to six months of supervised probation for disorderly conduct in 2008.
At about 5 p.m. Eastern Time, police in Maryland said Lee had been shot by law enforcement and that the hostages had been freed. MSNBC reported shortly before 5:30 p.m. ET that Lee had been killed. MSNBC also reported that "at least one explosive device went off when he was shot."
Officers spent about three hours negotiating with Lee after he burst into the suburban Washington building about 1 p.m., waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his body. Officials said 1,900 people work in the building.
According to NBCWashington, Lee had a home in Washington, D.C. for at least two years.
At the time of his conviction in March 2008, Lee was identified as a 40-year-old man from San Diego, according to MSNBC. At the trial, Lee said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego. He said he was inspired by "Ishmael," a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn and by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
Lee appears to have posted environmental and population-control demands online, saying humans are ruining the planet and that Discovery should develop programs to sound the alarm.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
