Discovery gunman shot, in custody

(Explosive detonates; three hostages safe, Maryland police say)

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Police shot a gunman who held three hostages for several hours Wednesday at the Discovery Communications building in Silver Spring, Md., authorities said. They said the hostages were safe and the gunman was in custody.

James J. Lee is seen in a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct in Montgomery County, Md.

Police said the gunman’s condition was unknown. At least one explosive device went off when he was shot, and other explosive devices could still be in the building in Montgomery County in suburban Washington, D.C., they said.

Montgomery County police Chief Thomas Manger said no one was believed to have been injured beyond the gunman.

People on the eighth and ninth floors of the building in the close-in suburb of Washington were safely evacuated, as were children in the Discovery Kids Place day care center, police said, adding that nobody was known to have been injured.

Law enforcement authorities told NBC News they believed the man was James Jay Lee or James Jae Lee, 43, a longtime protester at the building who was sentenced to six months of supervised probation for disorderly conduct in March 2008.

“The good thing is we have the outside of the building secure, we’re talking with him, and he wants to talk with us,” Montgomery County police Capt. Paul Starks said.

Source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com