Another shooting rattles the United States, and this time it's in the state of Maryland.
Thursday afternoon, an employee opened fire at a manufacturing plant in Maryland, killing three co-workers and gravely wounding another before being shot by a state trooper in an exchange of gunfire that left both parties wounded, authorities said.
Washington County Sheriff's Office deputies responded at the facility near Smithsburg, Maryland, roughly 70 miles northwest of Baltimore, at approximately 2:30 p.m. in response to reports of an active shooter, but the guy had already gone, according to the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office stated that deputies discovered three individuals dead and one person in severe condition at the Vancouver, Washington-based company Columbia Machine.
Based on a 2019 news release, Columbia Machine is a private firm formed in 1937 that designs, manufactures, and maintains "factory automation equipment solutions for a variety of industries" in more than 100 countries.
Company representatives did not reply promptly to phone calls and emails.
The sheriff's office reported that federal authorities, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, were assisting with the investigation.
The sheriff's office said that troopers from the Maryland State Police who were en route to the plant noticed the suspect based on a description of him and his car.
When the police officers attempted to halt the vehicle, the man "immediately" began firing a semiautomatic weapon at them, injuring a trooper. The other troopers fired back.
The injured trooper was treated and discharged from the hospital, but the suspect's condition was not immediately disclosed.
Employees Mark A. Frey, 50, Charles E. Minnick Jr., 31, and Joshua R. Wallace, 30, were fatally shot. The gravely injured man is 42-year-old Brandon C. Michael.
Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore of the Washington County Sheriff's Office stated that the suspect was identified as a 23-year-old man from West Virginia, but his identity was not released because he had not been prosecuted.
Smithsburg, according to Mayor Donald L. Souders, is a little community of around 3,000 people located approximately 25 miles south of Gettysburg and just north of Antietam.
Souders stated, "Our community is no stranger to tragedy... and we've rallied. And we will be there for the victims, their families, the survivors, and the injured officer."
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland expressed his "devastation" in a statement released Thursday evening.
The incident broke out following a string of recent high-profile mass shootings, including those in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.
