A man was killed Wednesday in a shooting at the food court at a hotel and casino in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., police said.
The shooting occurred just before noon at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
The unidentified male victim, believed to be in his 20s, was ordering food when he was shot in what police described as a “targeted” incident.
“It wasn’t random,” Nader said. “[The suspect] didn’t happen upon this person. It appeared that they were looking for this person, chased them down and the shooting occurred right there in the food court.”
The male suspect, seen on surveillance video, was in the parking lot of the casino for only a few minutes before going into the food court and opening fire, police said. The gunman and the victim did not appear to exchange any words prior to the shooting.
The suspect, who remains at large, is believed to have fled the scene in a car. No descriptions of the alleged shooter or his vehicle were released.
Detectives are still working to determine a motive for the shooting.
Chief Nader said nearby schools were placed on lockdown before it was established the suspect was not on foot in the area.
The food court remained closed as investigators processed the crime scene, but the rest of the casino and hotel were open.
“MGM is such a big area that the only crime scene that we’re looking at right now is in the food court,” Nader said. “For us, as a police department, there is no need for us to close anything else. Everything that we need to gather is in that food court.”
Police initially said a second man was grazed by a bullet, but Nader later confirmed only one person was shot.
