[BillP00]

I just got a call from my Mom who works across the street telling me that apparently a guy entered the lobby of the Discovery Channel building with a gun and some explosives. SWAT and Mont. Co. police are or have surrounded the area.

That's all I know.

Hey Ken V. please let us know if you're ok and if you can collaborate or clarify this story.

Bill P.

P.S. link to local newspaper - http://voices.washingtonpost.com/loc...ing-evacu.html

[barcheta]

Keep your head down Ken

[360 Modena]

OMG
stay safe
we want the inside scoop at Church this Sunday Ken

[Andrew]

Wow, Ken you are in our prayers. Stay safe.

[wetpet]

expecting some good pics.

[wetpet]

just talked to him. he's alright. and he has pics.

[360 Modena]

Originally Posted by wetpet

expecting some good pics.

Inside pics.

Probably gonna sell 'em to the National Enquirer.

[ECSofVirginia]

I just heard about this a few minutes ago...seriously...of all the media outlets that report on world happenings THESE guys get harrassed?!?!

Not cool.

[285ferrari]

Originally Posted by 360 modena

inside pics.

Probably gonna sell 'em to the national enquirer.

lol

[Neonzapper]

It's hard to talk about, but apparently the guy was upset about Paulie Jr and his dad's breakup. Helicopter shots showed a S.W.A.T. Hummer driving over Mikey's scooter.

[barcheta]

pretty funny Michaelzapper

[kvisser]

It was a pretty fucked up situation. At 1:02 I looked out our 3rd floor window and saw a dude in shorts with a badge and a shotgun running across our traffic circle. At that point I knew it was a serious situation.

I heard from a co-worker that someone walked in the door with a gun and walked up to our receptionist who promptly said "I'm not talking to you" She then got up and ran away. Later talked to her and found out that she wasn't even in the room at the time. It just goes to show you how rumors start in such a heated environment.

Any which way, my first reaction was to run to my car, grab my camera and sneak out of the garage (we were in lock down) I had 2 ways I could exit. The first one put me out right by the lobby. I was at that door, contemplating opening it when I remembered the guy with the shotgun that I saw running right by there. I figured in such a situation, it wasn't the best idea to pop out in the middle of it with a camera with a big lens. So I backed down the steps and went out a more quiet exit, crossed the street under police direction, over to the little parking lot in front of Red Lobster and started taking pictures.

The place was swarming with cops. I really couldn't get any good pictures, the cops kept pushing me back.

I then realized that I wasn't getting back in the building, my wife was freaking out and the cops were very conspicuous in their presence.

I worked my way around the building going towards the metro stop. It was determined that the subway stop was still open. I walked by some very serious swat team dudes suiting up for war. I asked them to be safe and they thanked me for my sentiments. I thanked them for being there.

I ended up by the mcdonalds. They were letting all the Discovery folks out of the building. I saw some cars leaving the building. I tried to get back in to get my car and found that that was not possible. Once again the cops were very determined not to let anyone in, just let people out. I can understand that.

I then figured it was time to go home. My car was inside and I didn't see any hope of getting back in so I hopped onto the metro, got to Glenmont. My wife was coming down from Damascus to pick me up. I was trying to catch a bus going north on Georgia. While waiting on the bus I realized that all the buses we were trying to catch were caught up in Silver Spring. They were not going to get there very easily. I walked around the corner and saw some Discovery folks. I asked if anyone was going north and got an affirmative on that. Dan from Planet Green got me to Olney. I met my wife at the Popeyes up there and finally got home.

As far as the nut job, he was a known quantity to Discovery. 2 years ago he was a one man picketing fool at Discovery. Claiming that we were not doing enough to prevent ecological disaster. He then started hiring homeless people to picket for him at one hundred bucks a pop. He then resorted to throwing thousands of dollars up in the air to attract attention. He finally was arrested for public disturbance and littering!

I just heard that the nut job got off probation 2 weeks ago and this was his brilliant plan he came up with. What an asshole. It sucks that this guy had to defile our beautiful building with his hate and his blood. I am very relieved that the hostages were out of there safe. But then again, they will always have to live with the sight of this butt hole getting his brains blown out by the swat team. What a tool!

My hat is off to the men and women that responded to this crisis today. Those guys are damn serious and damn good at what they do. I think we are all much safer with these folks on the alert. Very impressive show of force today.

regards

ken

[barcheta]

Damn Ken! What a day huh? Impressive shots of the SWAT team and their gear.

[BillP00]

Hey Ken,

Glad to hear that you're safe and sound. I know it was an inconvenience for you and your co-workers. But the main thing is that it all ended with a safe resolution for all. That gunman got what he deserved!!

As I mentioned before, my Mom works in the area and they were in lock down. She was FINALLY allowed to leave her office at 4:00 PM luckily she takes the metro.

Bill P.

[Neonzapper]

Originally Posted by barcheta

Damn Ken! What a day huh? Impressive shots of the SWAT team and their gear.

Yeah, what Jim said and doubles for me! What an area huh? Anthrax, Beltway Snipers, Discovery Nut. What next?

[360 Modena]

GREAT pics Ken. Do you have any of the perp before and most importantly, after the shooting?

I've got line on a National Enquirer reporter who's offering big bucks for pics and interview. I'm happy to be your agent/broker rep for a 20% cut. Interested?

Seriously, thanks for posting and all the best to you and your co-workers. The butthead won't be around to bother you anymore.

BTW, those SWAT and police team are true heros walking and running into the face of death.

[wetpet]

most importantly, how is the fish tank?

[ECSofVirginia]

Intense. Very glad to hear the situation was handled as smoothly as possible and that you and the others got through unscathed.

It's sad that someone with such a strong passion for the world wasn't able to use it constructively and created such a negative situation.

[KKRace]

So CNN and most other networks where showing live coverage of the incident. What was Discovery Channel broadcasting? I could understand if he'd gone after Disney or HSN or the CW?

[kvisser]

Originally Posted by KKRace

So CNN and most other networks where showing live coverage of the incident. What was Discovery Channel broadcasting? I could understand if he'd gone after Disney or HSN or the CW?

We are not a news organization. We don't have camera trucks and such. We create a tremendous amount of programming but very rarely are we live. The only instances are the Koppel Group broadcasts we did on cancer with Lance Armstrong.

Consequently, we don't have our facilities aligned to create spontaneous broadcast of news events. This morning we had a company wide meeting. We were allowed back in the building after 10. The company brought in coffee and pastries with David Zazlav and our founder, John Hendricks downstairs to talk to everyone.

It was a very interesting meeting in which our CEO went over the performance of all our emergency procedures. The evacuation went flawlessly, according to plan. The building was designed post 9/11 and the functionality of the public space was optimized to protect the rest of the building. The swat team and police were impressed with our security and their proficiency and camera surveillance. We practice emergency evacuations and it showed.

Overall, the outcome was as positive as it could have been. We have much to be thankful for in regards to the emergency response and assets that were brought to action.

The end result is that we had a total nut job come into our workplace and defile it with his demands and bombs and eventually his blood and brains. I can't say enough of how much it disturbs me that he did this to our beloved building.

David spoke of how they are going to re-evaluate our lobby and make it our space again.

regards

ken

and yes Ed, your beloved and hopefully paid for fish tank experienced no harm.