A man and his work supervisor were shot and killed Thursday afternoon in an apparent murder-suicide at the Sparks medical technology firm where they were both employed, police said.
It was not immediately clear to authorities which of the men fired the fatal shots in the supervisor?s office at Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Systems, or what prompted the shooting. But Cpl. Michael Hill of the Baltimore County Police Department said detectives were not looking for other suspects, and had interviewed numerous employees in an effort to piece together what happened.
“This is an isolated incident between the two” employees, Hill said.
He declined to identify either of the dead men, saying their families had not yet been notified.
According to its company Web site, Becton Dickinson is a 109-year-old international medical device and supplies manufacturer; Canadian, Japanese and other flags hung from the rafters in the first-floor corridor of the Sparks building. About 500 people work in that office, which is in the unit block of Loveton Circle, a company spokeswoman said. Another 1,200 or so work elsewhere in the Baltimore region.
Several employees declined to comment on the shooting as they walked through the glass doors in Sparks at about 4 p.m., heading to the nearby company parking lot. Visitors were required to sign in and staff members wore ID cards, in visible signs of building security.
Authorities were first called to Loveton Circle at about 1:14 p.m. for unknown medical trouble and arrived to discover both men dead on an upper floor of the building, Hill said.
He did not specify how many times the men were shot or how they were injured, but said a gun was found with them in the office.
Counselors from the fire department and an Employee Assistance Program were on hand to “provide help to any of our employees on site who need it,” according to a prepared statement released by Diane Polk, vice president of human resources.
“We extend our condolences to all of the families who were affected by this terrible tragedy.”
