An armed guard at Northrop Grumman in Linthicum “snapped” during a negative performance review Wednesday afternoon and fatally shot his co-worker, police said in court documents.
After Dylan Blake Chandler allegedly shot 37-year-old Joseph Keith Aman in the head, another co-worker disarmed and restrained him until police arrived, according to court records. Officers took Chandler into custody Wednesday.
Chandler, 26, of Pasadena, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and a related gun charge.
Anne Arundel District Judge Jennifer Alexander ordered Chandler held without bond after a brief hearing Thursday afternoon, meaning Chandler will remain at the Jennifer Road Detention Center in Annapolis pending trial.
Chandler is being represented by Maryland’s Office of the Public Defender. His attorney Tiffany Holley declined to comment.
Detectives wrote in charging documents that Chandler and Aman were employees of Allied Universal, a private security company that Northrop Grumman hired to protect its Linthicum facility. The defense contractor uses the complex to develop microelectronics, advanced sensing systems and navigation tools.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our employee, and our sympathies go out to his family and friends,” an Allied Universal spokesperson said in a statement.
The Allied spokesperson said Thursday afternoon that the company could not provide any more details, citing the ongoing police investigation.
Northrop Grumman said Thursday that it’s supporting the Anne Arundel County Police Department’s investigation of Wednesday’s shooting, and that the Linthicum facility remains open.
“Counseling services and on‑site wellness resources are being made available to employees and contractors affected by this incident,” a company spokesperson said in an email.
Security guards in Maryland employed by private security firms are required to have a license issued by the Maryland State Police. In order to carry a handgun, they have to have a permit issued by state police.
State police said Chandler had an active security guard license, which was suspended Thursday. The agency declined to comment on whether he had a handgun permit, citing state law barring disclosure of firearm-carrying permits.
Police said they responded to a call for a shooting at Northrop Grumman around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found Aman, of Baltimore, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chandler, police said, was being restrained by another co-worker.
According to charging documents, Chandler was called into an office Wednesday afternoon with Aman and a third co-worker whom police did not identify. Chandler and Aman sat across from each other at a desk to “discuss negative performance issues involving Mr. Chandler.”
“These performance issues,” detectives wrote, “were likely to result in Mr. Chandler being reprimanded or terminated.”
Police spokesperson Justin Mulcahy declined to say whether Aman was Chandler’s supervisor. Allied Universal declined to answer the same question.
The third co-worker in the office told investigators they briefly turned their back to Chandler and Aman as they were speaking to each other, according to charging documents. At that time, the co-worker “heard a loud bang, and then turned back around to see Mr. Chandler pointing a handgun toward Mr. Aman.”
The co-worker disarmed Chandler at gunpoint and detained him until police arrived.
Anne Arundel police promptly detained Chandler upon arrival, then took him to the homicide unit office in Millersville, according to charging documents.
Detectives said Chandler agreed to speak to them and admitted to shooting Aman once in the head.
“In explanation for his actions,” detectives wrote, “Mr. Chandler stated he ‘snapped’ because Mr. Aman was not being held accountable for his actions.”
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