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A counter-sniper shot the man as he emerged from Fox
affiliate WBFF and ignored police orders to take his hands out
of his pockets, police spokesman T.J. Smith told a news
conference.
WBFF reported on its website that the man broke into the station
demanding that it cover a story about an unspecified government
conspiracy.
Smith said the man had "displayed something that appeared to be
wires and some other things inside his jacket that appeared to
be some kind of explosive device."
He said the man appears to be in his 20s. He has not been
identified.
WBFF, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group <SBGI.O>, said
a bomb robot scanned the man for nearly an hour before officers
removed his clothing, picked him up and carried him to an
armored police vehicle.
Station News Director Mike Tomko said on the station's website
that the man was wearing a white, one-piece panda suit with a
surgical mask and sunglasses.
"He had a flash drive, said he had information he wanted to get
on the air. He compared it to the information found in the
Panama Papers," Tomko said, referring to a massive leak of
offshore financial data. "Apparently he had made some threats
before."
A brief video on the station's website showed the man walking
out of the station. No police or station employees were injured.
The station said it evacuated the building after the bomb threat
and a fire. The station said firefighters put out a fire in the
gas tank of a car in the station's parking lot.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Richard Chang and Leslie
Adler)
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