A man wearing a full-body panda suit with a fake bomb made of candy bars was taken to hospital Thursday afternoon after being shot by police.
The man, who was also wearing a “surgical-style mask over his face,” walked into a local TV station claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest around 1:20 p.m. ET.
The suspect, a 25-year-old man, then approached a man in the lobby of the FOX affiliate station and opened his jacket to reveal a device which he called a bomb, but was really some chocolate bars covered in aluminum foil with wires that connected to a “small motherboard,” according to Baltimore police spokesperson T.J. Smith.
The man had “essentially barricaded himself inside of the FOX 45 news station,” Smith said.
The station was evacuated and a SWAT team was dispatched to the building.
“Apparently the suspect brought in a device, we believe it was a flash drive, and wanted them to air it on the news,” Smith explained.
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He then walked outside, followed by heavily armed officers. The sound of loud bangs could be heard on television broadcasts that later showed the man lying on the ground.
The suspect was shot after he refused repeated demands to show his hands, said Smith, who said he did not know how many times or where on his body the man had been hit.
The man was alive and conscious and communicating with authorities through a robot designed to detect explosives, said Smith. He was later taken away by ambulance. The robot was seen on TV broadcasts rolling away from the man clutching a red vest with duct tape and wires.
Police said they also received a second call for a car on fire outside the station at the same time. A rag was found in the gas tank area of the vehicle and they believe it was arson.
The suspect is in serious but stable condition. Charges have not yet been laid in the incident.
WATCH: A man who walked into a Baltimore TV station claiming to have a bomb was shot by a police sniper on Thursday. Craig Boswell reports.
With files from the Associated Press.
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