CAPTURED: Harford County, Delaware shooting suspect taken into custody
NEWARK, Del. - A suspect wanted in connection with a fatal shooting at a countertop business in Harford County in Maryland and a shooting at a used car dealership in Wilmington, Delaware, has been taken into custody Wednesday after a massive multi-state manhunt, according to officials.
Police said 37-year-old Radee Labeeb Prince was apprehended in Newark, Delaware, by members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other law enforcement agencies shortly after 7 p.m.
Prince is accused of shooting five employees at Advanced Granite Solutions in the Emmorton Business Park in Edgewood, Maryland, which left three dead and two others critically injured just before 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The three victims killed in the shooting have been identified as 53-year-old Bayarsaikhan Tudev, 34-year-old Jose Hidalgo Romero, of Aberdeen, Maryland, and 48-year-old Enis Mrvoljak, of Dundalk, Maryland.
The Wilmington Police Department said Prince was also wanted in a shooting that happened at a car lot in the 2800 Block of Northeast Boulevard in Wilmington at about 10:45 a.m. Police arrived at that scene and found a man who had been shot twice, but was conscious and alert. The victim, who appeared to suffer non-life threatening injuries, identified Prince as the shooter and said the suspect was known to him.
Wilmington Police Chief Robert Tracy said Prince had "beefs" with the victim. Police said they spotted Prince in his vehicle and gave chase but lost him. Authorities said Prince has family in the Wilmington area.
A massive multi-state manhunt was launched for Prince after he fled the scene in Harford County in a black 2008 GMC Acadia. Federal and local law enforcement coordinated in the search for Prince.
Prince's vehicle was later recovered unoccupied at around 5:35 p.m. Wednesday nearby Glasgow High School in New Castle County, Delaware. A tip was reported saying that Prince was seen leaving the vehicle and was walking towards the high school, police say. However, he did not make it onto school grounds.
At around 6:46 p.m., authorities received another tip that Prince was on foot nearby a shopping center across the street from Glasgow High School.
Nearly 20 minutes later, three plain-clothes ATF agents apprehended Prince after a brief foot chase. Police say Prince discarded a .380 firearm during the pursuit, which was later recovered by authorities. Prince was then taken into custody without incident.
“He was walking down the street and then when our ATF agents – we were doing a search all through the neighborhood – it happened to be one of many teams that came across him," said Tracy. "When he saw that they had spotted him, he actually took off running, threw the gun and they were able to apprehend him about 75 feet later and recover the gun he threw.”
Officials said the attack at Advanced Granite Solutions, which was carried out with a handgun, was targeted. The sheriff's office said Prince was an employee at the countertop company for the last four months and said Wednesday was a scheduled work day. Investigators were treating the shooting as a case of workplace violence and didn't see ties to terrorism, according to Dave Fitz, a spokesman for the Baltimore FBI field office.
The two surviving victims from the Maryland shooting were transported to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where they are in critical condition. At an unrelated event, Gov. Larry Hogan said the victims in critical condition had suffered gunshot wounds to the head.
A reunification point for families of the victims was established at the Richlin Ballroom on Edgewood Road.
Hogan released the following statement on his Facebook page:
A vigil for the victims of the shooting at Advanced Granite Solutions was held in Edgewood on Wednesday night.
MORE: Candlelight vigil held for Maryland workplace shooting victims
Prince was fired from JPS Marble & Granite in Forest Hill, Maryland in February after he attacked a co-worker, according to Philip Saison, who was Prince's boss. Saison filed a restraining order against him after Prince returned to the business to yell at Saison.
"I felt very threatened because he is a big guy and very aggressive on me," Saison said in the application for the restraining order. Saison said Prince did not get physical with him, but wrote: "I do not want to wait until he will."
A Harford County District Court judge denied the order, stating the petitioner didn't meet the burden of proof.
Prince faced several gun charges in March 2015 in Cecil County, including being a felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a handgun in vehicle. However, the charges were dropped about three months later.
Wilmington police said Prince had been previously arrested 42 times in Delaware, including 15 felony convictions. Officials said most of the arrests were for probation violations.
Prince has been charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses in in Delaware. The charges he will face in Maryland have not yet been released.
Earlier Wednesday morning, authorities checked an Elkton, Maryland, home where Prince lived as recently as one month ago, but he was not there.
Schools in Harford and Cecil counties were placed on lockdown as a precaution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.