Maryland shootings suspect arrested

A U.S. federal law enforcement officer was arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion that he may be linked to three shooting incidents which killed two people and injured three others over 24 hours in the northeastern U.S. state of Maryland, local police said.

Gunshots were heard at two shopping centers eight miles apart within 20 minutes Friday morning in Bethesda, Montgomery County, leaving one male killed and three others badly injured, said multi TV networks.

The 62-year-old suspect, identified as Eulalio Tordil, is also suspected of killing his estranged wife in a nearby high school parking lot on Thursday.

Preliminary investigation reveals that Tordil followed his 44-year-old estranged wife on to the parking lot as she came to pick up their children. He confronted her as she sat in her car and shot her multiple times, according to a police report.

Before killing his estranged wife, Tordil shot first a passerby as he tried to intervene to help the woman. The man is considered not in critical condition, said a CNN report.

Police said Tordil is working with the Federal Protective Service, a Homeland Security agency responsible for security at federal buildings and some foreign embassies in the Washington D.C. area neighboring Maryland.

The suspect was put on administrative duties in March after a protective order was issued against him. He was later placed on administrative leave, required to surrender his government-issued weapons, badge, and credentials, according to the NBC report.

Any weapons he may have used were therefore obtained on his own, federal officials were quoted as saying.

All schools in the county have been ordered to shut down Friday, and the county's recreation centers have been placed on lockdown.

Police said it was not immediately clear whether all three shootings were related. Investigations are still underway. Enditem