Photo by Adam Gerard

Photo by Adam Gerard

This post has been updated with additional information.

Maryland police have arrested a suspect who may be connected to three fatal shootings in Maryland—two taking place in Montgomery County this morning, and one yesterday in Prince George’s County. Police have reason to believe that the shootings are related but “that will be further vetted through the investigative process,” Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Darryl McSwain said at a press conference.

A man who witnessed the arrest told WJLA in a TV interview that the suspect, Eulalio Tordil, went to eat lunch at a nearby Boston Market restaurant for an hour after the last incident. Officials said at a press conference that the Beltway sniper suspects ate at the same location during their rampage in 2002.

Tordil is a Department of Homeland Security employee. Yesterday afternoon, he fatally shot his wife at High Point High School in Prince George’s County. He was stripped of his gun and placed on administrative duty after his wife Gladys filed a protective order over alleged abuse, The Washington Post reported.

According to a preliminary Prince George’s County Police account, Tordil followed his estranged wife as she came to pick up her children from High Point High School yesterday afternoon. A bystander attempted to intervene after Tordil confronted Gladys, while she sat in her car. Tordil shot the man, who suffered non-life threatening injuries, before turning the gun on his wife and shooting her multiple times.

The first shooting of today took place around 11:15 this morning outside of the Westfield Montgomery Mall. After a confrontation, one victim was shot, according to McSwain. Two more people were shot after attempting to assist the first victim, he said. A male victim from this incident has been pronounced dead, another male victim is in critical condition, and a woman sustained non life threatening injuries.

Police responded to a second shooting within the same hour at a Giant grocery store in Aspen Hill, Maryland. The suspect fatally shot a female victim in this incident, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.

An officer in plain clothes identified Tordil’s car in a nearby parking lot after the shooting, according to officials. The officer spotted Tordil at a nearby Dunkin Donuts, and police put him under surveillance until it was safe to make the arrest. He will be arraigned on Monday at 1 p.m. in the Rockville District Court, John McCarthy, State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, said.

Filed Under: bethesda maryland, mall shooting, shooting, Westfield Montgomery Mall,