Deadly shooting at Rite Aid center in Maryland, suspect in custody: Sheriff

Multiple people were killed in a shooting this morning in northeast Maryland, authorities said Thursday.

Police responded to a call shortly after 9 a.m. at a Rite Aid distribution center, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Jeff Gahler told reporters at a news conference that the investigation was still preliminary but "multiple" people had been killed and "multiple" people were injured.

Four people were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center with gunshot wounds, a hospital official said. Two victims are in stable condition while the other two are "seriously injured." The official declined to say if the count included the shooter.

The shooting occurred at Spesutia Road and Perryman Road in Aberdeen. The Rite Aid facility employs 1,000 workers and manufactures and processes items for delivery to individual stores. A Rite Aid spokesman said the company is "cooperating fully" with the police investigation.

The suspect, who used a handgun in the attack, is in custody and in critical condition at a local hospital, Gahler said.

"We do not believe there is an additional threat to the community," he noted.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI assisted local police at the scene.

Former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, herself a victim of gun violence, issued a statement Thursday on the shooting.

"Three workplace active shooting attacks in just the last 24 hours should spark outrage in every American," she said. "Today, it was a drugstore distribution center in Maryland. Yesterday, a software firm in Wisconsin and a municipal building in Pennsylvania. No matter where you work, learn, play, or live - you have a right to feel safe, and I'm horrified that that's no longer the reality in America."

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.