Originally Posted by Washington Post
GUNMAN IGNITES FREDERICK INFERNO
A gunman entered a liquor store in Frederick yesterday, shot at police, locked himself in the store during a 30-minute standoff and ignited a fire that engulfed and gutted a two-story shopping plaza along one of the Western Maryland city's major commercial corridors, police said.
James Douglas, 29, of Frederick walked into Jim's Liquors at Antietam Village Center about 12:30 p.m., showed the owner a handgun and told him, "Get out," Frederick Police Lt. Thomas Chase said. Police said the store's owner, whose name they would not release, called Douglas a frequent customer and knew him by a nickname, "Menace."
Nobody else was in the store, Chase said, and the owner left to call police. When two officers pulled up, Douglas fired at least one shot at them through the store's glass door. Police then surrounded the shopping plaza and ordered nearby businesses to lock their doors and windows.
Alone in the store, Douglas called friends and relatives on his cellphone. Police crisis management officers reached him on the line, Chase said.
"While we were negotiating with him, he set the store on fire," Chase said.
Authorities had not located Douglas last night, and police said it is likely that he died in the fire. Nobody else was injured, Chase said.
Douglas apparently lit boxes of liquor to ignite the blaze, which spread quickly and destroyed all 14 stores in the center, Chase said. "It's completely gutted," he said.
The 1970s-era shopping center, in the 1500 block of Opossumtown Pike, is at the heart of Frederick's commercial corridor. Roads around the center were closed for nearly four hours, snarling holiday traffic.
Businesses destroyed in the blaze included a branch of Frederick County Bank, a Dunkin' Donuts, a Quiznos sandwich shop, a medical supply store, a hair salon and a dry cleaner. A restaurant on the bottom floor, Latino Grill, was going to open next week, but it was destroyed.
Police have not determined why Douglas targeted the liquor store but said there are no confirmed past grudges with the owner. Authorities characterized the incident as an attempted armed robbery.
"Anytime a guy walks into a liquor store with a gun, it would draw us to conclude that he's robbing the place," Chase said.
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