At least one person is dead following a targeted shooting Wednesday in the food court of MGM National Harbor hotel and casino in Maryland, according to authorities who are hunting for the gunman.
Police responded to reports of the shooting shortly before noon Wednesday, arriving at the scene to find a male victim, who was later pronounced dead, Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader said during a press conference.
Nader told reporters that the shooting was targeted.
“It wasn’t random,” he said. “This person did not happen upon this person. It appears that they were looking for this person, chased him down and the shooting occurred right there in the food court.”
The victim is a man in his early 20s, Nader said.
12/3/25 Press Conference on Shooting at MGM National Harbor pic.twitter.com/yk9ZhxGYce— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) December 3, 2025
According to authorities, the victim, who was by himself, was ordering food as the assailant approached and opened fire.
“The victim was in the food court. The suspect came into the food court, seemed like he knew where the victim was,” he added.
Police are searching for a suspect who was captured on surveillance cameras, according to Nader, who said they were withholding the description of the alleged gunman and it will only be made public if police have difficulty in tracking him down.
Authorities believe the suspect fled the scene by car.
Only the food court was affected by the shooting, with the rest of the casino and hotel located in Oxon Hill, Md., near Washington, D.C., remaining open and active.
Schools in the vicinity went under lockdown as a preventive measure until authorities were able to determine that the suspect had not fled on foot, he said.
“We have not had crimes like this at the National Harbor, and crime in MGM and National Harbor is down approximately 32% for violent crime this year, so it’s rare that incidents like this occur,” he said. “We’re confident that we’ll close this case.”
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