Tag Archives: Maryland

Fire guts U.S. Agriculture Department shed in Maryland

Smoke emerges from wreckage of USDA facility after fire in Beltsville, Maryland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fire on Tuesday gutted a storage shed at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) complex in Maryland that was closed last week because of threats, a fire official said.

The blaze at Building 426 at the USDA’s Beltsville facility took firefighters about two hours to extinguish, Prince George’s County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said by phone, adding there were no injuries.

The fire department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the cause, he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll have some type of resolution, or at least which direction we’re headed, in the near future,” Brady said.

The shed housed workshops for such items as masonry and fire extinguishers as well as storing fuel and maintenance vehicles. WUSA, a CBS television affiliate, quoted workers as saying posters also were stored there.

 

Smoke continues to emerge from the wreckage of a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility, closed last week due to threats, which burned down at the USDA complex outside of Washington in Beltsville, Maryland, U.S.,

Smoke continues to emerge from the wreckage of a U.S. Department of Agriculture facility, closed last week due to threats, which burned down at the USDA complex outside of Washington in Beltsville, Maryland, U.S., September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

 

Live TV footage showed the wood frame building engulfed in flames, with part of the walls missing and a section of the roof gone as firefighters poured water onto the structure.

A USDA spokeswoman had no details on whether the building was burned to the ground, or if anything was stolen.

Last week, USDA facilities in five states, including the one in Beltsville, a Washington suburb, were closed after receiving anonymous threats.

Scientists at the Beltsville site research poultry diseases, soybean genetics and genetic modification of food animals, according to its website.

(Reporting by Dan Burns, Ian Simpson in Washington and Tom Polansek and Michael Hirtzer in Chicago, editing by Dan Grebler and Alan Crosby)

Maryland police kill armed black woman who threatened them

(Reuters) – Maryland police fatally shot an armed black woman who espoused anti-government views and threatened to kill officers during a standoff where her 5-year-old son was wounded, authorities said on Tuesday.

The shooting of Korryn Gaines, 23, of Randallstown, Maryland, about 17 miles northwest of Baltimore, on Monday prompted outrage on social media, reigniting concerns about police use of force, especially against African-Americans.

Gaines pointed a shotgun at Baltimore County officers when they arrived at her apartment to serve warrants on her and Kareem Courtney, 39, her boyfriend, police said.

“When somebody points a gun directly at an officer and threatens to shoot them, it very well may not end well. That is the situation we had in this case,” police spokeswoman Elise Armacost told reporters.

Police said Gaines was live-streaming video during the faceoff and followers were encouraging her not to give in peacefully.

Gaines had faced charges that included disorderly conduct and resisting arrest from a March traffic stop. Courtney was wanted for an assault charge against Gaines.

Courtney, who is also black, fled with a 1-year-old boy and was arrested. Gaines remained in the apartment with her son.

After a standoff of about five hours, an officer fired when Gaines pointed the gun at officers and threatened to kill them. She was then killed in an exchange of fire.

The wounded boy was struck in the arm and is in good condition at a hospital, police said. Who fired the round that hit him is not known.

Police did not give the race of the officers involved.

During the March traffic incident, officers stopped Gaines for driving with pieces of cardboard in the place of license plates, a police report said.

One of them had written on it, “Any Government official who compromises this pursuit to happiness and right to travel will be held criminally responsible and fined, as this is a natural right and freedom.”

She tossed the officers’ citations out the window. She said they “would have to ‘murder’ her” to get her out of her car so it could be towed, the report said.

Armacost said Gaines espoused anti-government views but did not know if she belonged to a specific anti-government group.

Facebook deactivated Gaines’ account during the standoff at the request of police.

The hash tags #KorrynGaines and #SayHerName trended heavily on Twitter. Videos showing Gaines’ encounter with police went viral.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and by Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Andrew Hay)

Two dead as flood tears through Maryland town

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Flooding from torrential rain killed two people in Ellicott City, Maryland, with floodwaters washing through the U.S. town’s historic downtown, collapsing a street and sweeping away cars, officials said on Sunday.

Ellicott City received almost 6 inches (15 cm) of rain in two hours late on Saturday as thunderstorms moved through the region, causing the Tiber, a tributary of the Patapsco River, to break its banks, officials said.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said the flooding in Ellicott City, about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Washington, was worse than that from Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

“I don’t believe there’s ever been a flood and the devastation that we’ve had overnight in Ellicott City,” he said in an interview with Baltimore’s WBAL NewsRadio.

County spokesman Andy Barth said a man and a woman were killed. The woman’s body was recovered from the river overnight.

Barth said every business near the river on the town’s historic Main Street had suffered major damage, including building fronts torn off and doors stripped away.

In all, at least four properties were completely destroyed and another 20 to 30 buildings were badly damaged, Kittleman said in a statement.

Howard County officials posted a photo on social media of a glass and wood storefront with its foundation ripped away, leaving a void where wooden struts were installed as a work crew tried to stabilize the building.

Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency, as did Kittleman. The declarations allow aid to be released more quickly for Ellicott City, which has a population of about 65,000.

Firefighters rescued about 120 people and emergency workers were also dealing with a water main break, Howard County said in a statement. On a video posted online, men formed a human chain to get a woman trapped by raging waters out of her car.

Television footage showed a downtown street collapsed, power poles down, mud-covered roads and cars tossed onto one another.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Adrian Croft and Marguerita Choy; Editing by Michael Perry)

Five bald eagles killed in Delaware, officials investigating

(Reuters) – Five bald eagles have died in Delaware, state officials said on Tuesday, weeks after 13 of the U.S. national birds were determined to have been killed by humans in neighboring Maryland.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control said it was investigating what killed the eagles, but would not comment publicly on possible causes.

Three of the eagles were still alive and very ill when they were discovered at the weekend, Sgt. John McDerby of the Delaware Fish and Wildlife Natural Resources said in a statement. They died a short time after their rescue.

“We don’t know how many eagles may have been affected, so we are asking the public to notify us immediately should they see birds that appear sick,” McDerby said.

Thirteen bald eagles were discovered dead in Maryland last month, with lab results indicating the birds did not die of natural causes, including diseases such as avian influenza, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency declined to say whether the birds were poisoned but said the investigation was focusing on humans as the cause of death.

The 13 birds represented Maryland’s largest bald eagle die-off in 30 years, officials said.

The bald eagle, which almost disappeared from the United States decades ago, was removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007 after habitat protection and the banning of the pesticide DDT led to its recovery.

The federally protected bird is a symbol of the U.S. government and is featured on currency and in the presidential seal.

The maximum fine for harming a bald eagle is $100,000 and up to one year in prison.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Editing by Paul Tait)

Maryland police officer slain in ambush, two suspects arrested

LANDOVER, Md. (Reuters) – A gunman opened fire on a police station in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., on Sunday, killing one officer in what authorities called an unprovoked attack before the assailant and a second suspect were arrested.

The accused gunman was wounded in the ensuing shootout with several officers outside the station but was expected to survive, Prince George’s County Police Chief Henry Stawinski told reporters hours later.

The second suspect, who was believed to have accompanied the shooter but fled the scene when the gunfire began, was taken into custody about 30 minutes later following a search of the area, Stawinski said.

Neither suspect was immediately identified.

The police chief said he could offer no explanation for what might have precipitated the attack on the District 3 police station, which lies adjacent to county police headquarters in Landover, Maryland, about 8 miles east of Washington.

“It wasn’t about anything,” Stawinski told reporters at a news conference outside the hospital where the slain undercover officer, Jacai Colson, 28, was declared dead. Colson, a four-year veteran of the force, had been rushed to the hospital by a fellow officer in the back of a squad car.

“This man launched an attack on a police station and engaged several Prince George’s County police officers in a gunfight, to which they responded heroically,” Stawinski said.

He called the late-afternoon attack unprovoked, adding: “My understanding is he opened fire on the first officer he saw and then continued that conduct as officers became aware of what was going on, and then several officers engaged him.”

One eyewitness was quoted in The Washington Post as saying she heard the sound of what she thought were firecrackers outside, then looked out her window to see a man dressed in black firing a handgun at the police station.

“He fired one shot, and then he started pacing back and forth, then fired another shot,” Lascelles Grant, a nurse who lives nearby, told the newspaper. Grant said she then saw police officers pouring out of the station.

Police said the second suspect was under questioning Sunday night and no other individuals were believed to have been involved in the incident. According to the Post, authorities described the second suspect as the gunman’s brother.

John Teletchea, president of the Fraternal Order of Police union local, called the fallen officer a “cop’s cop.”

(Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Frank McGurty in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney)

13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland, $25,000 reward offered

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to determine who or what killed the 13 bald eagles that were recently found dead in a Maryland community.

According to a news release from the service, a citizen on Saturday discovered some of the deceased birds in a field in Federalsburg, a town in the center of the Delmarva peninsula.

Investigators searched the area and ultimately found 13 bald eagle carcasses, the service said.

The iconic eagles are the official bird of the United States and appear on the country’s Great Seal and currency. While the eagles were moved off the endangered species list in 2007, the service says the birds are still protected under federal laws that criminalize killing or wounding them.

Anyone found guilty of violating the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act can be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to a year in prison, according to the service, which is teaming up with a variety of animal protection groups to offer a reward for information that leads to a conviction.

The total reward stood at $25,000 following a $15,000 pledge from the Center for Biological Diversity, the nonprofit organization said in a news release. The center added the 13 bald eagle deaths are the most that Maryland has experienced in any one incident in more than 30 years.

“For many Americans the bald eagle represents freedom and strength,” Catherine Kilduff, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “The unthinkable death of 13 birds at once stands in stark contrast to the ideals this majestic wild animal personifies.”

Authorities believe the birds might have been poisoned, according to the center.

“If they were poisoned or shot, the heartbreaking deaths of these 13 bald eagles is a crime,” Kilduff said in a statement. “Those responsible need to be caught and prosecuted.”

Maryland Man Charged With Receiving Funds from ISIS to Carry Out U.S. Attack

A 30-year-old Maryland man is accused of receiving close to $9,000 from the Islamic State to fund a terrorist attack in the United States, according to the Department of Justice.

FBI officials arrested Mohamed Yousef Elshinawy on Friday at his home in Edgewood, the Department of Justice said Monday in a news release. The charges against him include providing material support to the Islamic State, as well as lying to the FBI and hiding facts.

“According to the allegations in the complaint, Mohamed Elshinawy received money he believed was provided by ISIL in order to conduct an attack on U.S. soil,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a statement, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Prosecutors accused Elshinawy of receiving at least $8,700 from people he knew he had ties to the Islamic State between March and June of this year. Prosecutors said Elshinawy claimed that he wasn’t going to carry out an attack and that he was just trying to scam money from the group.

But the Department of Justice alleges that Elshinawy mentioned pledging allegiance to the Islamic State in two separate electronic communications with his childhood friend and brother. In one instance, Elshinawy is accused of telling his brother he wanted to die as a martyr for ISIS. He’s also accused of using social media and prepaid phones to speak directly to ISIS operatives.

“The affidavit alleges that Mr. Elshinawy initially told the FBI that he was defrauding the terrorists, but further investigation showed that Mr. Elshinawy was supporting the terrorists and misleading the FBI,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rothstein said in the news release.

Prosecutors said they first became aware of Elshinawy in June after noticing a suspicious money transfer from Egypt. The FBI interviewed Elshinawy about two weeks later, and said Elshinawy admitted he had received $4,000 from an Islamic State operative for “operational purposes.”

The investigation found additional money had been sent to Elshinawy, according to prosecutors.

Earlier this month, George Washington University’s Program on Extremism published a report that found that 56 individuals had been charged with Islamic State-related activities in the United States this year. That was the most terror-related arrests in any single year since 2001.

Military Accidentally Ships Live Anthrax To Labs

The Centers for Disease Control scrambled Wednesday to find where the military accidentally shipped live anthrax virus.

As many as 18 labs around the country have been sent shipments of live anthrax when they should have received inactive or dead virus for research purposes.

And in Korea, officials say that 22 Air Force personnel may have been exposed to anthrax and are now undergoing treatment as a precaution.

Jason McDonald of the Centers for Disease Control said that most of the labs are private but a few are operated by government and public institutions.  The shipments were sent from the Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

One of the samples arrived at Osan Air Base in Korea leading to the possible infections of military personnel.

“There is absolutely no excuse. Not for the shipping institution. Not for receiving institutions that failed to confirm inactivation upon receipt,” Richard Ebright, a biosafety expert at Rutgers in New Jersey said. “Both should lose, irrevocably, authorization for work with active or inactivated select agents.”

The incorrect shipment was discovered by a laboratory in Maryland.

Rioters Attack Baltimore Police

Violent black youths stormed out of a funeral for Freddie Gray, the man who died while in Baltimore police custody, and launched a series of violent attacks on police.

The attacks involved throwing rocks and bricks at officers and setting several police vehicles on fire.

Police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said that seven officers were injured as a result of attacks from protesters including one who is unresponsive and in critical condition.  Several of the wounded officers are suffering from broken bones due to the projectiles thrown at them.

WMAR Baltimore is reporting that many of the rioters appear to be youths between 14 and 18 years old.  Religious leaders in the region are calling on their followers to find out where their children are and to take them home, especially if they are part of the protests.

Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, who delivered the eulogy for Gray, told CNN that the city was in a “code red crisis.”  He said that men from the Nation of Islam are planning to build a “human wall” to stop the bomb from coming downtown in an attempt to stem the violence.

City Council President Jack Young posted on Facebook pleading with the community to stop their actions.

“The World is watching us to see if we do what took place in 1968,” he said, referring to riots that crippled the city. “We literally destroyed our neighborhood and business. We never really recovered from that.”

Downtown businesses closed early and evacuated their staff after reports indicated the rioters were attempting to head downtown with their violence.

A CVS Pharmacy on W. North Avenue was overrun by protesters who completely looted and destroyed the store.  WMAR-TV showed men sitting in the street going through bags of prescription drugs and a van that was loaded with stolen personal hygiene products.

The family of Freddie Gray had asked at the funeral for no protests following the service.

Maryland Bishop Indicted For Hit And Run

A Maryland Episcopal Bishop Suffragan has been indicted on 13 counts connected to a fatal hit-and-run accident last year.

Heather Cook was indicted by a Baltimore-based grand jury on charges including “driving while under the influence of alcohol per se …, driving under the impairment of alcohol, texting while driving, reckless driving and negligent driving.”

“The original criminal charges included manslaughter by vehicle, criminal negligent manslaughter by vehicle, homicide by driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol per se and homicide by driving a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol,” reported Mary Schjonberg of Episcopal News Service.

Cook is accused of killing 41-year-old Thomas Palermo after she hit the cyclist while driving drunk.  She then fled the scene but was chased down by other cyclists and brought back to the crash site.

Witnesses say there’s no way Cook didn’t know she struck someone.

“The windshield was completely smashed in, with a hole on the passenger side, and from the damage of the car, there was no doubt in my mind that was the car,” said a witness to the AP.

Episcopal church officials have asked Cook to resign.