A multistate hunt is underway for a man accused in shootings in Maryland and neighboring Delaware on Wednesday morning — including killing three people and injuring two others at his Maryland workplace, authorities say.
Radee Labeeb Prince, 37, is accused of shooting five people, killing three, at the Advanced Granite Solutions home remodeling business where he worked in Edgewood, Maryland, roughly 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, around 9 a.m., Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.
Prince, who police say drove away from that site, also is a suspect in a shooting that happened later Wednesday morning in Wilmington, Delaware, Gahler said, citing Wilmington police.
The Wilmington shooting happened in the 2800 block of Northeast Boulevard, police in that city said. Further details about the Wilmington shooting, including whether anyone was killed or injured, weren’t immediately available.
After both shootings, Prince was last seen driving away in a 2008 black GMC Acadia SUV, police said.
Wilmington is a roughly 55-mile drive up Interstate 95 from Edgewood.
“There’s an individual out there on the loose who committed one of the most heinous acts we’ve ever seen in our county. Certainly we consider him armed and dangerous,” Gahler said.
“We don’t know what his intentions are or what his next stop may be,” Gahler added.
The two people injured in the Maryland shooting were in critical condition at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Center, Gahler said Wednesday afternoon.
Maryland shooting appears targeted, sheriff says
Prince, of Wilmington, had worked at Advanced Granite Solutions, located in the Emmorton Business Park just south of Interstate 95, for roughly the last four months, Gahler said. Prince was scheduled to work Wednesday, according to the sheriff.
Police were called there at 8:58 a.m., and officers arrived four minutes later, according to the sheriff. The five people shot there are believed to be employees of the business, Gahler said.
The sheriff said a motive isn’t known, but, “This does appear to be a target attack limited to that business.”
Prince is believed to have shot the five with a handgun, said the sheriff, who added that investigators were speaking with witnesses. Gahler didn’t say what the witnesses saw or whether any of them were in the building when the shooting happened.
“I would ask him … to stop what he has started here today. Enough loss of life … we can end this peacefully and preserve his life and any more lives that might be in jeopardy,” Gahler said.
Gahler said he believed Prince acted alone in the Maryland shooting.
“We do not believe, in this incident here, that he had any assistance whatsoever,” Gahler said.
‘It’s total chaos’
Advanced Granite Solutions designs, manufactures and installs granite, marble and engineered stone countertops, vanity tops and surfaces, in part serving people who are remodeling their kitchens, bathrooms and fireplaces, the company’s website says.
The office park includes a number of buildings housing various businesses. Four hotels are across the street and down the road from Advanced Granite Solutions.
Mike Sullivan, who works at a business in the next row of buildings from Advanced Granite Solutions, told CNN affiliate WBAL-TV that a client with a CB radio warned him to take cover, citing reports of a shooter.
“Right now, it’s total chaos,” Sullivan told WBAL by phone, shortly after the shooting was reported. “We’re actually locked in right now with three of our clients.”
Aerial video Wednesday morning from WBAL showed numerous police vehicles at the office complex.
Special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the shooting scene to help the sheriff’s department, the ATF said.
Five schools in the Edgewood area were placed on lockdown — meaning students were kept in the buildings, and visitors weren’t permitted — in the morning as a precaution at the advice of the sheriff’s office, the county school system said on its website.
The lockdown eventually was lifted, according to a message on the site updated shortly after noon.
“We will proceed with all remaining activities today, including athletic events, as planned,” the message read.
This is a developing story and will continue to update.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly spell the name of suspect Radee Labeeb Prince. Also, police have updated the license plate number for the car the suspect is believed to be driving.
