The police said on Wednesday that they were searching for an assailant who fatally shot a man in the food court at the MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino in Oxon Hill, Md., near Washington, D.C.
Officers responded just before noon and determined, based on a preliminary investigation, that it was a “targeted shooting,” George Nader, the chief of the Prince George’s County Police Department, said at a news conference.
“It wasn’t random,” Chief Nader said, adding that it appeared that the shooter “was looking” for the victim and tracked him down as he was ordering food.
Investigators believe the shooter fled in a car, the chief said. He said that there was “no active threat to the community, but we are actively searching for the suspect.”
The police did not release a description of the shooter or the name of the victim, but said the man who was killed was in his 20s. No one else was injured.
The police did not say how many people were in the food court at the time of the shooting. The casino stayed open after the shooting, although the food court was closed, Chief Nader said.
MGM Resorts International declined to comment.
The National Harbor Hotel and Casino, on the eastern shore of the Potomac River, across from Alexandria, Va., opened in 2016. It includes slot machines, table games, a hotel and a variety of restaurants.
Chief Nader said that violent crime at the casino was rare.
Michael Levenson covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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