A Navy medic shot and wounded two people in Frederick, Md., on Tuesday before fleeing to nearby Fort Detrick, where he was killed by police after breaching the gate, authorities said.
After the shooting, the assailant drove to Fort Detrick, about four miles away, authorities said.
Woldesenbet breached the gate with his vehicle and drove onto the base, said Brig. Gen. Michael J. Talley, the commanding general of the Army Medical Research and Development Command and Fort Detrick.
“Just prior to that, the Frederick Police Department had issued a BOLO report — or ‘be on the lookout’ report — for the vehicle, and certainly the subject,” Talley said. “The subject was stopped at the gate. And before he was able to be searched, he sped past the gate, made it about a half-mile into the installation.”
Talley said Woldesenbet was pursued immediately by the Fort Detrick quick-reaction force, which stopped him in a parking lot. He brandished a weapon, and “our police department was able to neutralize the subject,” Talley said.
Woldesenbet — an enlisted U.S. Navy hospital corpsman, the equivalent of a medic — was assigned to Fort Detrick but lived off base in Frederick, authorities said. Talley said that investigators are looking into possible connections between Woldesenbet and the victims, and that a motive remains under investigation.
The wounded sailors were taken to a Baltimore hospital, where one was in critical condition and the other was expected to be released Wednesday, Frederick Police Chief Jason Lando said.
“We have been in touch with the victims’ families, and they are at the hospital with their loved ones,” Lando said.
Lando said there is a military institution at Riverside Tech Park, where the sailors were wounded.
Lando said Woldesenbet was the perpetrator and the public is “no longer at risk.”
He said no officers were hurt in the incident. Fort Detrick is protected by civilian Defense Department police officers.
“Our emergency responders are well trained for these types of situations and the fast response of our military police enabled us to contain this threat quickly,” Col. Dexter Nunnally, the Fort Detrick garrison commander, said in a statement.
Police and medics tended to Woldesenbet for about 20 minutes before he was pronounced dead at the scene, Talley said.
Fort Detrick is an Army installation focused on scientific research and development, including U.S. government efforts to study and combat the novel coronavirus. About 10,000 service members and civilian personnel work at the installation.
Woldesenbet enlisted in the Navy in 2012 and spent much of his career training in various medical units, according to his service record. He did not serve on any deployments.
Talley declined to say what Woldesenbet’s assignment was at Fort Detrick or to identify his work unit. The FBI is investigating the shooting at Fort Detrick, officials said.
Efforts to reach Woldesenbet’s family Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful.
“It’s unfortunate; it’s sad,” Lando said. “Every time you turn on the news, there’s something like this happening. . . . Today it happened in Frederick. A week or so ago, it happened in Boulder. You know, it seems like every day. So all we can do — whether in the military [or] civilian law enforcement — is assess our ability to respond, our training, our equipment, and make sure that we’re always prepared to protect the community. We always hope that we don’t get that call. Today we got that call.”
Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor said at a news conference that the incident is a reminder of violence that “no community wants to be at the center of attention for.”
Mike Ricci, a spokesman for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), said that the governor was briefed on the incident and that Maryland State Police are assisting in the investigation.
Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
