BALTIMORE — After a three hour standoff with police, a gunman who allegedly opened fire Monday morning inside a Federal Hill animal hospital has surrendered.
WMAR-2 News is told the shooter fired at his own brother, who is a veterinarian at Light Street Animal Hospital, before barricading himself inside the building.
The grandfather of one worker told WMAR-2 News that the incident stemmed from a landlord tenant dispute.
“She was there when I ran up the steps to make sure she was okay. She was in the room with [the victim]," said Al Melaragno. "When I opened the door, she said, ‘Yes, I’m okay’, and I asked her where the doctor’s brother was that shot him. She said he’s up in his third floor apartment.”
The victim had apparently allowed his brother to live in an apartment that he owns above the hospital, but was planning to evict him.
We're told that's what ultimately led to the shooting.
Melaragno added that he ran into the alleged shooter on Sunday which left him concerned.
“Yesterday, I saw him at Ace Hardware with these two seven-and-a-half-gallon gas tanks, and I asked him what he was doing with them, because I’ve talked to him before. He said he was going to get gas for some boats down at the harbor, which I thought was kind of odd," said Melaragno. “He told one of them on the phone, one of those employees, that he was going to blow up the building.”
Police so far have only confirmed the victim to be a 66-year-old man, who suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
As investigators were negotiating with the gunman, residents and businesses within one block of the area were forced to temporarily evacuate.
Steven Rigby was one of those people impacted.
“I was standing a block further down and the cops came out and said, ‘We’re going to rope this off. He has a rifle and you guys are right in the line of fire.'
Nearby Thomas Johnson Elementary School was also placed on lock-down, until the situation cleared.
Police say no one else was injured during the incident. They have not yet released the name of the suspect, or what specific charges he faces.
"Hostage negotiators as well as with help from the community, we were able to talk to the citizen and have the suspect surrender a few minutes ago to us without any incident," said Baltimore Police Colonel, Richard Worley.
Following the incident, the pet hospital sent out a text message notifying its customers that all appointments would be canceled until further notice.
The hospital said it would reopen at 8am Tuesday for food and medication pick-up only.
