Finding gunman spoke to NBC

Gunman cites popular environmental novel
In the call, the man identified himself as James J. Lee — the same name given by numerous law enforcement authorities as police negotiated with him Wednesday afternoon at the building in suburban Washington, D.C.

NBC News producers had called the building to check out initial reports of the hostage situation, and suddenly Lee came on the line.

The program airs on the Discovery Channel, one of the targets of the man’s years-long protest campaign against what he saw as the company’s failures to adequately program shows that made clear the threat to the planet from overpopulation and animal extinction. The program’s producers could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

An NBC News producer spoke to Lee for about 10 minutes, until he terminated the call. During the call, NBC News informed Montgomery County authorities of the conversation and held off reporting it until the hostage standoff had been resolved. Police said they shot and killed the man at 4:50 p.m. ET when he pointed a gun at one of the hostages.

He made several references to the novel “My Ishmael” by environmentalist Daniel Quinn, which tells the tale of conversations between a 12-year-girl and a gorilla named Ishmael, who is seeking to hire a student to help save the world.

Quinn told msnbc.com on Wednesday that he had never been in touch with Lee.

“What his take on the book is, I don’t know,” Quinn said. “It’s hard to imagine how he got from reading this book to his current behavior. It certainly puzzles me.”

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