Police: Rockville Man Arrested After Threatening to Kill Mall Employees

A Rockville man who was wearing camouflage and babbling incoherently was arrested Tuesday and taken to a hospital for evaluation after threatening to kill employees at the Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, the Baltimore Sun reports. 

Police told The Washington Post that George Hong Sik Chin, 31, threatened employees at the Tumi luggage store in Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. He complained to store employees about the prices and “stated he was going to kill them,” according to police.

State troopers found Chin dressed in camouflage and "babbling incoherently" elsewhere in the mall, the Sun says, and he told officers he had not taken his medications.

Chin was taken to Suburban Hospital for an emergency evaluation, the Sun says. 

Officers found what they suspect is marijuana in Chin’s truck, the Post reports, and he faces drug charges.

The threat came less than a week after Darion Aguilar of College Park brought a shotgun into The Mall in Columbia, killing Zumiez store employees Brianna Benlolo and Tyler Johnson before killing himself. Authorities are still searching for a motive in that case, although Aguilar left a journal saying he was depressed and wanted to die.

"There's heightened concern in a situation like (the Bethesda incident) because of last weekend, but nothing was found in his possession that indicated he could carry out the threat," Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, told the Sun.

Patch's coverage of Columbia Mall shootings:

• Police Say Aguilar Knew He Was Having Mental Health Issues

• 3 Dead in Shooting at Columbia Mall, Shooter Identified
• Witnesses Describe Gunshots, Chaos in Columbia Mall Shooting
• Mall-Goers Show Sadness, Respect: 'This is a Faith-Filled Community'
• No Known Motive in Deadly Shooting as Columbia Mall Prepares to Reopen
  
• 19-Year-Old College Park Man Identified as Columbia Mall Shooter
  
• Columbia Zumiez Employee: 'She Was One of the Nicest People I've Ever Met'
  
• Zumiez CEO Issues Statement on Shooting