Downtown Workers Waited for Hours to Go Home

The normally busy area of downtown Silver Spring was bustling in a different way Wednesday evening, after an armed man who had taken hostages at Discovery had been killed by police.

Longer-than-usual lines of people waited at some bus stops; other stops were not being used at all, as they are located on roads that were still closed. Instead of traffic speeding by on Colesville Road, portions of the street remained empty as of 8 p.m.

Sonia Khanzode lives in Silver Spring, but when she learned of the gunman in the Discovery building she was worried about getting home from her work in Virginia. It took the usual hourlong Metro ride to get to Silver Spring, she said, but people trying to leave the area weren't so lucky.

"I can't imagine having to take a bus or something," Khanzode said. "I'd rather just go to dinner."

And some did just that. Norma Hughes of Rockville took an early dinner as she waited for four hours at a Lebanese restaurant before being able to catch a bus home.

Earlier in the day, Hughes was near a bus stop across from the Discovery building when the gunman, James J. Lee, entered the building. Hughes said she saw people begin to leave Discovery, and one woman coming out of the building said that a man had pointed a gun at her.

Hughes said police gave her little direction, and she said the whole experience was "very confusing."

"If something worse were to happen, they need to be ready," Hughes said.

Samuel Zelek, who works for a law firm close to the Discovery building, said his building wasn't evacuated. He said he wasn't worried, but was more concerned about traffic and getting home.

More than an hour after Lee was shot, Zelek questioned why it was taking so long to open up the streets.

"People can't get out, people can't get in," he said.

Zelek said he usually takes the Metro and bus to his home in Olney, but tonight he may call his wife to catch a ride.