Maryland shooter killed after opening fire at a Panera Bread killing two deputies

Two sheriff's deputies have died after a gunman opened fire inside a crowded Panera restaurant in Maryland.

The man first fatally shot a sheriff's deputy in the head inside the restaurant in Abingdon at lunchtime on Wednesday, then killed the other deputy in a shootout later, authorities said.

The suspect was also killed in the exchange of gunfire not far from the Boulevard at Box Hill, the shopping center where the restaurant was located, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.

Remarkably, no bystanders were hurt.

Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but the sheriff said he believed the first deputy who approached the gunman was shot 'because he was wearing a uniform.'

Lynn Faulkner hugs and kisses her daughter Sophia near the scene of a shooting at a branch of Panera Bread on Wednesday 

Authorities have identified the shooter, who had outstanding warrants out for his arrest in Florida and Harford County.

Gahler said a loaded handgun was recovered from him. 

A 15-year-old girl, who witnessed the initial shooting inside the sandwich shop, said she was in a booth with her mother just 10 feet away. 

Sophia Faulkner said she almost sat right next to the gunman – but instead, she and her mother chose a booth a little further away because the man appeared 'sketchy' and disheveled. 

He was sitting in the back and hadn't ordered any food, she said. A sheriff's deputy arrived at the restaurant at 11.46am to check on a report about someone causing a problem.

The deputy tried to talk to the man, who was apparently known to workers there. The deputy sat down beside him, asked how he was doing and the man shot him in the head.  

'I saw him fall back out of his chair and the blood started coming out,' Faulkner said. 

'I didn't know how to process it. My mom said, 'What's going on?' and I said, 'Get down, someone just got shot.' 

She said 'everyone started screaming' after the gunshot and children — out of school because of snowfall — were running around. 

'I was freaking out so much and everybody was running to one side of the store. Families were huddling together. I didn't really know what was going on,' she said. 

It's unclear why the shooter choose to open fire. Police had been called to the restaurant about the man's behavior

Witness Sophia Faulkner, left, talks with reporters near the scene of a shooting at a branch of Panera Bread in Abingdon, Maryland on Wednesday

'You see this stuff online and in movies and on TV when it happens, but you never think you're going to go out to lunch one day with your mom and it's just going to happen.' 

The gunman fled and witnesses gave officers a description of him and told them which way he was headed, the sheriff said. 

After at least one deputy caught up with him, shots were exchanged. The deputy was left severely wounded and the suspect dead, the sheriff said. 

'I saw two women and a child run from Panera to our back door. They were hysterical. They said they heard gunshots,' said bartender Mike Davis, who was working at the Ocean City Brewing Co.'s Taphouse. 

Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler talks to reporters after a shooting at a branch of Panera Bread in Abingdon, Maryland

An investigator walks beneath a police tape line at the scene of a shooting at a shopping center in Abingdon

There was a heavily police presence at the scene of the crime on Wednesday in Abington, Maryland

'We locked the door and went to talk to a cop. The cop said not to let anyone in. Then, we heard more gunshots, 'Pop, pop, pop, pop,' from down in the shopping center. It was hectic.' 

The sheriff said investigators believe the person acted alone and there is no further threat to the community. 

'The restaurant was very full at lunchtime,' Gahler said. 'Thankfully, no one else was injured.' 

Yellow tape blocked off the Panera and Taphouse restaurants, but people were coming and going freely at other businesses after the shooting. 

Panera spokeswoman Amanda Cardosi said the Panera family is heartbroken. 'Our thoughts and actions now are directed towards the victims and their families. 

'This location will remain closed as we work with law enforcement to investigate,' she said.