Md. shooting suspect recently had divorce petition dismissed
MILLERSVILLE, Md. - The man accused of firing at five public places in Maryland learned his petition for divorce was dismissed at the height of the shooting streak.
Hong Young, 35, of Beltsville, was informed of the case dismissal Monday, the same day calls were reported of shots fired at a Wal-Mart and a movie theater in central Maryland. Authorities said Young chose targets at random, including a building of the National Security Agency.
No one was reported killed or seriously hurt.
Police captured Young without incident Tuesday night, ending a massive manhunt that evoked memories of two snipers who killed 10 people in 2002 in the Washington area. Law enforcement officials said Wednesday they were still investigating a motive.
"Clearly, he was continuing to do it until he got caught," Anne Arundel County Police spokesman T.J. Smith said. "This guy apparently has some other issues going on (that) our detectives continue to follow up on."
Young filed for divorce in September after nearly seven years of marriage. The case was dismissed Monday because his wife, Bunnary Ngo, had not been served with documents in the case, according to court records in Prince George's County.
Calls to numbers listed for Young and Ngo went to voicemail.
Also Wednesday, Prince George's County Police reported they found hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a search of Young's house, along with ten weapons, including several handguns and a crossbow.
Joy Abraham, 65, who lives next door to Hong's two-story red brick home, said he remembered the younger man seeming "withdrawn."
"He never speaks," said Abraham, who works as a registered nurse. "He walks around with his head down."
Smith said Young was under police guard at a hospital since being taken into custody. Authorities didn't know if he had an attorney.
Young was a prison guard from January 2012 to May 2014, according to Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services Secretary Stephen Moyer.
"There was nothing significant about his employment," Moyer said. "He was assigned to one of the medium (security) facilities in Jessup. He resigned. There was nothing remarkable about his file."
Two Anne Arundel County officers took Young into custody Tuesday night after spotting a car near the site of the first shooting. Smith said stores were closed, so the car's presence was suspicious. The officers approached the car and saw shell casings and a handgun inside, police said.
Investigators said they matched the casings and a .380 semi-automatic handgun to last week's shooting. The gun was legally registered to Young. One person was hurt by broken glass from a vehicle window in that case. Another person was similarly injured Tuesday in a shooting along a busy highway in Prince George's.
No one was hurt in a second shooting Tuesday at a building at the National Security Agency, or during Monday's shootings. The sites are within a 12-mile radius in the Baltimore-Washington area.
Officials said they were relieved no lives were lost even as they investigate what prompted the shootings.
"We're fortunate we're not talking about death. Buildings were fired upon. That takes you into a little peek inside the mindset of this individual," Smith said.
Anne Arundel County Chief Timothy Altomare said the random shootings had many remembering the sniper streak in 2002.
Despite the fear created by the latest shootings, Altomare said everyone is "alive and well."