© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Officials Say Navy Medic Shoots Two, Is Killed At Ft. Detrick

Nallin Farm Gate at Fort Detrick

Officials have no motive

Two sailors were critically injured Tuesday morning and another died after shootings at a business park in Frederick and nearby Fort Detrick.

The shooting was reported about 8:30 a.m. at what Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando described as a “Navy institution” in the Riverside Tech Park, a collection of low-slung storefronts. He would not, however, say what that institution was.

Lando identified the shooter as Fantahun Girma Woldensenbet, a 38-year-old Navy Petty Officer Third Class. He said the man used a rifle in the shooting, then fled to Fort Detrick, about a 10-minute drive away.

Officials initially said the victims were airlifted to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with life threatening injuries. Lando said in an afternoon news conference one remained in critical condition, but the other was expected to be released Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Michael Talley, from Fort Detrick, said guards who had been alerted to look out for Woldensenbet’s car stopped him at the gates, but he sped away before they could search him. Fort Detrick police chased him to a parking lot.

“He then brandished a weapon, and our police department was able to neutralize the subject,” Talley said.

The man died about 20 minutes later despite life saving efforts by police and medical personnel, Talley said.

Neither Lando nor Talley would say whether the shooter knew his victims, nor would they discuss a possible motive.

Fort Detrick, originally an Army post where military doctors conducted research on biological weapons, now houses medical personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Joel McCord is a trumpet player who learned early in life that that’s no way to make a living.