Maryland Police Search for Armed Man

July 6, 2011
Maryland Police Search for Armed Man

LINTHICUM, Md. --

A man walked out of the woods near a construction site on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and tapped on the back window of a contractor's vehicle with a gun, then hit the windshield with a hammer before fleeing, authorities said Wednesday.

The parkway was closed for a few hours in both directions while police scoured the area for the man, who was armed with a shotgun or rifle, said Greg Shipley, a Maryland State Police spokesman.

The man walked up to a Jeep operated by a speed camera contractor late Wednesday morning, Shipley said. When he tapped on the back window with the gun, the contractor became startled and began honking the Jeep's horn. The man walked to the front of the vehicle, hit the windshield with a hammer and yelled incoherently before walking back into the woods, Shipley said.

About 50 officers were searching for the gunman, described as a white man between the ages of 50 and 60, wearing a red and black flannel shirt and blue jeans. Police were using dogs and helicopters to aid in the search.

There was no evidence that shots were fired, and no one was injured, Shipley said.

The encounter occurred near the interchange between the parkway and Interstate 195, about 2 miles from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Traffic was gridlocked in the area, and people traveling to the airport were advised to allow extra time and use either I-95 or I-97, said Charlie Gischlar, a State Highway Administration spokesman.

State highway crews are in the midst of a lengthy project to widen the parkway in both directions between I-195, the access highway for the airport, and I-695, the Baltimore Beltway. Speed cameras are authorized in the work zone, as they are in other highway work zones in Maryland. Signs alert drivers to the presence of the cameras.

The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is a 29-mile, four-lane divided highway connecting Baltimore city with the northeast corner of the District of Columbia that opened for traffic in 1954. The southern portion of the road is maintained by the National Park Service, while the northern portion is state-maintained and is also known as Maryland Route 295.

The parkway reopened shortly before 3 p.m.

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Associated Press writer Ben Nuckols in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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