Matt Agorist | The Free Thought Project
Beltsville, MD — On Thursday the town of Beltsville, Maryland was rocked by the tragic shooting of Eulalio Tordil’s estranged wife, Gladys Tordil. Thursday afternoon, Tordil walked up to his wife at High Point High School as she picked up their children and shot her.
The incident was captured on school video and was witnessed by adults and possibly students at the school, Prince George’s County Police Chief Henry P. Stawinski III said Thursday night.
After fleeing in his SUV, Tordil managed to evade authorities. On Friday morning, multiple mass shootings, one at Westfield Montgomery Mall and the other shortly after at the nearby Aspen Hill Shopping Center, left two more dead and two others wounded.
On Friday morning, after the shootings, police confirmed that they were investigating the connection between Gladys Tordil’s murder and the other shootings.
The shooter, believed to be Tordil, opened fire on one person before striking two others who came to help, said Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Darryl McSwain.
Investigators had “no reason to believe the victims knew the suspect,” McSwain said.
Shortly after confirming the connections, Tordil was apprehended at the Aspen Hill shopping center by the Montgomery County Police department. He was spotted eating lunch at a Boston Market restaurant right near the area the by which the shootings took place.
Eulalio Tordil, 62, is a police officer with the Federal Protective Service. In March, after his estranged wife filed a protective order against him, he was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, Gladys Tordil alleged that her husband slapped her and threatened to hurt her if she left him. She indicated that he had five firearms, and that he subjected their children to “intense-military-like discipline — push ups, detention in dark closet.”
The protective order required Tordil to surrender all firearms to law enforcement. However, because of his police officer status, he was told to refrain from using them, except “when respondent is at work and while he is on work premises.” The order said that “respondent may carry his work-issued firearm which he will leave at work during non-work hours.”
On Friday, a Federal Protective Service official said the agency “removed his duty weapon, badge and credentials.” However, they apparently missed at least one.
Watch the video below: