Montgomery County man kills 3 before shooting, killing self, police say

BROOKEVILLE, Md. - A suspect in a shooting that left three people dead Monday in a Montgomery County neighborhood has died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, according to officials.

Montgomery County police said 41-year-old Christopher Snyder killed himself after a tactical team broke into the home he was barricaded inside of located in the 22000 block of Brown Farm Way in Brookeville as negotiators were speaking with him by phone.

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said officers responded to the neighborhood Monday afternoon after receiving several 911 calls at 3:44 p.m. for reports of a domestic situation with a person armed with a gun. Some of the 911 call takers heard what sounded like gunshots in the background of some of the calls.

When officers arrived at the scene, they located three adults shot to death inside a home. They secured the home and determined that Snyder had fled the home and went back to his house located across the street. Three other adults who were at the home at the time of the shooting, including Snyder's wife, were able to escape unharmed, Manger said.

"Right now, we believe that one of the people who was killed lived at the home," according to the police chief. "Another was a guest of the homeowner who was in from out of town. The third appears to be someone who was working at the home."

A tactical team and negotiators responded to the neighborhood and set up a perimeter around the area. Negotiators spoke with Snyder over the phone for several hours.

At around 11 p.m., the tactical team broke in through the front door of Snyder's home.

"When they breached the front door, the suspect was on the phone with negotiators. He asked the negotiator, 'Did they just break in the front door?' And then hung up the phone," said Manger. "At that point, officers who were outside the home heard a single gunshot."

Snyder was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the police chief said.

Police said Snyder's wife reported that she had been held captive by her husband over the weekend and was able to escape their home to the neighbor's house where the triple shooting happened.

Manger said Snyder was known to police after having previous encounters with him.

"We have had a number of contact with the suspect in the past over a number of different issues," said Chief Manger, who would not go into detail about what those issues were.

Following the initial shooting, residents in the area were urged to shelter in place and to call 911 if they saw anything suspicious.

"I heard a shot that sounded like a rifle shot to me," said resident Bob Brown. "Shortly after that, I heard police cars and it's usually an accident up here at the corner at the intersection, but when I saw so many police cars, I said something else is going on. Then they came to our house and asked us to lock down."