Radical tree-hugger at Discovery Channel standoff killed

SILVER SPRING (Maryland) - A RADICAL environmentalist took three men hostage in a dramatic siege at the headquarters of a US television channel on Wednesday before being shot and killed by police.

All the hostages were unharmed after the four-hour standoff at the Discovery Channel in which suspected explosives strapped to the gunman's body apparently detonated in a cloud of smoke.

Police said Swat teams had fired on the suspect, who was under video surveillance during hours of tense negotiations, when he pointed his gun at one of the hostages. 'At that point our tactical units moved in. They shot the suspect. The suspect is deceased,' police chief J. Thomas Manger told reporters.

The suspect was reported to be James Lee, an Asian American with a history of protest against the Discovery Channel. MORE