Judge denied ex-employer's request for protection from Edgewood, Md., shooting suspect

EDGEWOOD, Md. -- A Maryland judge denied a request for a restraining order filed in February by the former employer of a man who is now suspected in a workplace massacre that left three dead a different business Wednesday.

Radee Labeeb Prince, 37, allegedly walked into the Edgewood, Maryland business just before 9 a.m. Wednesday and opened fire with a handgun, killing three co-workers and wounding two. Prince then allegedly drove about 55 miles northeast to Wilmington, Del., where he allegedly shot a man with whom he had previously been involved in disputes, police say.

That man was shot twice but survived, Wilmington police said. Police had Prince in custody Wednesday evening. 

The Maryland victims and the suspect worked for Advanced Granite Solutions, the owner of the company that designs and installs countertops told The Associated Press. Prince worked as a machine operator, owner Barak Caba told the AP in a brief telephone interview.

Prince had employed at Advanced Granite Solutions for four months. Prince was fired from another job earlier this year after he attacked a co-worker, according to a petition for a peace order filed by his former boss and obtained by CBS News. That business, JPS Marble & Granite, is also in Edgewood and located about four miles away from Advanced Granite Solutions.

The former boss sought the restraining order against him in Harford County District Court Feb. 28. In an application for his request, the man said he fired Prince for punching a co-worker in the face. The petition said Prince came back to the business after the firing, "justifying what he did was right because the other guy was saying some things that he did not like."

The petitioner said he refused to take Prince back. 

He said his business later got a letter saying that Prince was seeking to collect unemployment. He said he responded that Prince had been fired and was already employed at another company. He said Prince then again returned to the business on Feb. 27 and threatened, cursed and yelled at him.

The man wrote: "I felt very threatened because he is a big guy and very aggressive on me."

The man said Prince did not get physical with him, but wrote: "I do not want to wait until he will. Plus, he already punched a co-worker. He can also do it to me."

The former boss requested that Prince be ordered not to contact him and to stay away from his business. But a Harford County District Court judge denied the order, saying the petitioner "could not meet the required burden of proof."

Prince has a lengthy criminal history, officials said. Wilmington police say he has 42 arrests in Delaware, where he has an address and relatives, and 15 felony convictions. 

Police believe the shootings Wednesday in Maryland and Delaware were "targeted," but they couldn't speak to a motive.