Man In Animal Costume Shot By Police After Making Bomb Threat At TV Station

Bryan Woolston / Reuters

A man wearing an animal onesie threatened a Baltimore television with a bomb and was shot by a police sniper as he walked out of the station Thursday afternoon.

Baltimore Police officials said the unidentified man was not complying with officers as he walked out of the lobby of the Fox 45 station, and refused to take his hands out of his pockets before a sniper shot him.

Reuters

Despite the injury, the man is still alive and refusing to bring his hands out of the pockets of his full-body animal costume.

"The suspect is still not complying with orders," police spokesman T.J. Smith said during a press conference. "The officers are giving them as we speak."

Officers and paramedics are not able to reach the injured suspect because he is still holding his hands in his pockets and police were unable to confirm whether or not he was carrying an explosive, he said.

As a precaution, police are using a robot often used by its bomb squad to approach the suspect and communicate with him.

"We can tell he's still alive, but he's still not complying," Smith said.

A video taken by a witness via Periscope shows the man walking out of the station and being followed by a group of heavily armed officers with shields before several shots ring out.

Smith said the man walked into the lobby of the station and made a complaint about the government.

Via periscope.tv

He told employees there he was carrying a bomb, prompting an evacuation of the building and immediate area.

The suspect has not been identified, but Smith said he appeared to be a white male in his 20s.

Images from the scene show him wearing what appeared to be a full-bodied headgehog costume known as Kigurumi.

Police Commissioner Ken Davis said during a press conference officers are trying to get the man to comply with orders to render the area safe, and get paramedics to attend the injured suspect.

"I wish we were in a position to render first aid," Davis said. "We can't. He's still in a position to render harm."

Smith said all employees at the Fox 45 station have been accounted for and were safe.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

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