Armed man takes hostages taken at Discovery Channel offices in Maryland

Hostage situation at Discovery Channel HQ

Police take up position in front of the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland / AFP Source: AFP

A MAN armed with explosives has been shot by police after taking hostages at The Discovery Channel HQ, saying the TV station must broadcast its commitment "to save the planet".

Police said the man, named as James J. Lee, was in custody. His condition was not immediately known.

Lee had taken "a small number" of hostages at the Silver Spring, Maryland, building, and issued a bizarre manifesto with 11 demands.

As the drama began, workers were initially told to shelter in locked offices before being directed out of the building.

Nearly 100 children were evacuated safely from a day care centre inside the building, some still in their cribs, to a nearby McDonalds, WJLA reported.

One person being held hostage was a male security guard supervisor, local FOX affiliate WTTG reported.

The incident began shortly after 1pm local US time when police responded to reports of "shots fired".

WJLA reported that Lee entered the lobby, fired his weapon and shouted: "Nobody is going anywhere."

A motive was not immediately clear but WJLA said the Discovery Channel had been receiving threats related to the cable channel's program Whale Wars, a show featuring a group of environmental activists who attack whaling ships.

One person inside the building tweeted a link to a website containing what appeared to be a rambling manifesto written by the suspect that included a set of 11 demands for the cable channel.

It begins, "The Discovery Channel MUST broadcast to the world their commitment to save the planet and to do the following IMMEDIATELY", before listing the demands.

At one point the manifesto states:"Humans are the most destructive, filthy, pollutive creatures around and are wrecking what's left of the planet with their false morals and breeding culture."

The manifesto ends with the words "These are the demands and sayings of Lee."

The list of demands was published on the website www.savetheplanet.com. According to the Washington Post, the website is registered to James Lee and was published on July 18. He listed a post office box in Canada as an address.