SILVER SPRING, Md. – Police shot an armed man who took three hostages at the Discovery Channel network's headquarters Wednesday. All of hostages escaped safely, officials said.

Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said he did not know whether police killed the gunman, who was upset about the network's programming. Police spent several hours negotiating with him after he burst into the suburban Washington building about 1 p.m. waving a handgun and with canisters strapped to his body.

Manger said an explosive device may have detonated, and the suspect may have brought other devices into the building. He said as far as he knows, the 1,900 people who work in the building were able to get out safely.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect.

A different official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said Lee previously protested outside the building, where he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in February 2008, according to court records.

Police reports indicate he paid homeless people to join his protest and carry signs outside the building. He gave one individual $1,000 for what he considered a prize winning essay.

At one point, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered around Lee, 43, who referred to money as "just trash" and began throwing fistfuls of it into the air.

At the trial, The Gazette of Montgomery County reported, he said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego. He said he was inspired by "Ishmael," a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn and by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

A website registered to Lee criticized Discovery and announced plans for the protest in January 2008: "These guys have been very sneaky and deceptive as to their contribution to the planetary problems. Just look at their 'new' show about saving the planet, 'Planet Green,' to me, it's just another show about more PRODUCTS to make MONEY, not about actual solutions. We can't let them get away with doing it anymore."

Discovery Communications Inc. operates cable and satellite networks in the U.S., including The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet. Discovery shows include "Cash Cab" and "Man vs. Wild," and TLC airs "American Chopper" and "Kate Plus Eight."

Animal Planet also airs the controversial series "Whale Wars," about attempts by environmentalists to disrupt the Japanese whaling industry.

After Lee's arrest, a magistrate ordered a doctor's evaluation, but court records do not immediately indicate the result. Lee was convicted by a jury and served two weeks in jail. He was also ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters.

Adam Dolan, a sales director in Discovery's education division, told The Associated Press by phone that he was heading to lunch with a co-worker when he heard there was a situation in the building.

He was told to go back up to the top floor, lock the door and turn off the lights. Eventually the workers were herded down a stairwell and told to go home.

"Everyone was very scared, but at the same time ... I think people were calm and collected and responded as one would expect in this situation," said Dolan, 28.

When he got to the bottom floor, he saw shattered glass near the company's daycare and suspected it was broken to get the children out. He later got an e-mail that all the children were safe and had been taken to a McDonald's.

Dolan said the company has unarmed security guards who won't let anyone into the building without a badge.

Melissa Shepard, 32, of Peterborough, N.H., a consultant who works there during the week, said she was on the third floor in a large room with several other workers when someone announced over a loudspeaker that there was a situation in the lobby and people should stay at their desks.

After some time, they were told to move to the other end of the building. She said she was among a dozen workers who huddled into an office, shut the door and turned off the lights.

Then she said someone knocked on the door and told them to leave the building. She said there was some confusion as they were told to go to an upper floor or down the stairs.

"Finally, I screamed, 'tell us where we need to go...I just want to get out of there,'" she said. "I was shaking...I was like what do we do what do we do?'"

Authorities descended on the area, and people were being kept away from the main drag of the downtown area where the building is located amid restaurants and shops. Traffic was jammed. FBI Washington field office spokesman Andrew Ames said FBI bomb technicians and SWAT personnel were also at the scene.

WASHINGTON – The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in 20 years as substantially fewer undocumented workers from Mexico, Latin America and elsewhere are crossing the border in search of jobs, an independent research group says.

The analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests the nation's economic downturn and increased border enforcement have reduced the number of illegal immigrants, who make up roughly 4 percent of the U.S. population.

The findings come amid bitter debate over Arizona's strict new immigration law - now being challenged in federal court after lawmakers passed it earlier this year. The Obama administration contends the state law usurps federal authority and promotes racial profiling, while Arizona says states are justified to step in if federal enforcement falls substantially short.

The study released Wednesday estimates that 11.1 million illegal immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2009. That represents a decrease of roughly 1 million, or 8 percent, from a peak of 12 million in 2007, before Arizona intervened with its new enforcement measures.

The study, based on an analysis of 2009 census data, puts the number of illegal immigrants about where it was in 2005.

The 11.1 million is slightly higher than the Homeland Security Department's own estimate of 10.8 million. The government uses a different census survey that makes some year-to-year comparisons difficult.

Much of the recent decrease comes from a sharp drop-off in illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border into the U.S., particularly those from the Caribbean, Central America and South America. An increase in unauthorized immigrants leaving the U.S., by deportation or for economic reasons, also may have played a factor.

States in the Southeast and Southwest saw some of the biggest declines in the number of illegal immigrants from 2008 to 2009, including Florida, Nevada and Virginia. Arizona saw a decrease, but it was too small to be statistically significant.

It's hard to figure out how much of the decline to attribute to the bad economy and how much to immigration enforcement, said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew who co-wrote the analysis.

"They're certainly acting together," he said. Passel said illegal immigrants now find it more expensive and dangerous to cross into the U.S. and also have less incentive to do given the languishing job market in construction and other low-wage industries.

"While people are arguing the government is not stopping illegal immigration, our data suggests the flow of undocumented immigrants sneaking into the country has dropped dramatically," Passel said.

He declined to predict how long the decline in illegal immigration may last, other than to say it could take a while before unemployment in the U.S. substantially improves.

The estimates by Pew will add to the political back-and-forth on immigration reform.

Boosted by immigration and high fertility among Latinos, minorities now make up roughly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which they are projected to become the new U.S. majority by mid-century. Roughly one in four counties currently have more minority children than white children or are nearing that point.

Still, the Census Bureau has made clear that projected minority growth - particularly among Hispanics - could change substantially depending on immigration policies and the economy. President Barack Obama, who is challenging the Arizona law, has pledged to push an overhaul of federal immigration law but has declined to set a timeline.

Following the passage of Arizona's immigration law - which is now largely on hold as it's reviewed by the courts - more than a dozen states were considering similar legislation or issued legal opinions aimed at strengthening immigration enforcement. They include Florida, Virginia, South Carolina and Utah.

Other Pew findings:

- The states with the highest percentage of illegal immigrants were California (6.9 percent), Nevada (6.8 percent), Texas (6.5 percent) and Arizona (5.8 percent). The numbers are expected to play an important factor in whether those states lose or gain fewer U.S. House seats than expected after the 2010 census.

-Illegal immigrants make up about 28 percent of the foreign-born population in the U.S., down from 31 percent in 2007.

-The unemployment rate for illegal immigrants in March 2009 was 10.4 percent - higher than that of U.S.-born workers or legal immigrants, who had unemployment of 9.2 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.

The Pew analysis is based on census data through March 2009. Because the Census Bureau does not ask people about their immigration status, the estimate on illegal immigrants is derived largely by subtracting the estimated legal immigrant population from the total foreign-born population. It is a method that has been used by the government and Pew for many years and is generally accepted.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Powerful Hurricane Earl spun toward the East Coast on Wednesday, driving tourists from North Carolina's vacation islands and threatening to bring damaging winds and waves all along the Atlantic seaboard through Labor Day weekend.

Visitors took ferries off of Ocracoke Island and were told to leave neighboring Cape Hatteras in North Carolina's Outer Banks, and federal authorities have warned people along the coast to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

Earl's effect on the East Coast will depend on when it makes its expected turn to the northeast.

A later-than-expected turn could mean the storm's eye makes landfall on the extreme eastern tip of North Carolina as a Category 3 storm late Thursday or early Friday.

If that happens, hurricane-force winds also could reach New York's Long Island and Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Even if it doesn't, dangerous rip currents likely to be felt from the Carolinas north.

Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency as a precaution, allowing the state to position staff and resources ahead of the storm. Emergency officials as far north as Maine urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready.

Even the U.S. Navy was altering plans, hustling to get the USS Cole back in port in Norfolk, Va., before the bad weather arrived. The destroyer wasn't supposed to come home from a seven-month deployment until later this week.

In Virginia Beach, where more than 20,000 long-distance runners, their families and friends are due to arrive this weekend for the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon, organizers were keeping a close eye on the weather, but few participants had backed out.

"This is definitely on our radar, but at this time it looks like Sunday's half-marathon will take place as scheduled," said Dan Cruz.

Earl was still more than 700 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras on Wednesday afternoon, with top sustained winds of 125 mph. It was on track to near the North Carolina shore late Thursday or early Friday and then blow north along the coast, with forecasters cautioning that it was still too early to tell how close the storm may come to land.

The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning for much of the North Carolina coast and hurricane watches from Virginia to Delaware.

Not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

"A slight shift of that track to the west is going to impact a great deal of real estate with potential hurricane-force winds," Feltgen said.

The only evacuation orders so far affected parts of the Outer Banks, thin strips of beach and land that face the open Atlantic.

Tourist cars, some with campers in tow, lined up for the first ferries of the day from Ocracoke to the mainland. Another car ferry connects to Hatteras, which has a bridge to the mainland and came under the second evacuation order a little later Wednesday morning.

The evacuation orders are called mandatory, but Julia Jarema, spokeswoman for the state Division of Emergency Management, said it doesn't mean people will be forced from their homes. Local law enforcement officials may do something such as going door-to-door and asking people who stay behind for information about their next of kin.

Emergency officials said they hoped Ocracoke's 800 or so year-round residents would heed the call to leave. But Carol Pahl said she and husband Tom would stay put if the current forecasts hold. Only a direct hit from a stronger storm would drive them from the island where they've lived for seven years, running an antiques store.

"There's never been a death on Ocracoke from a hurricane, so we feel pretty comfortable," Carol Pahl said as tourists departed on ferries and her husband, also a construction contractor, worked to board up the windows of clients' and friends' homes. "Everything here is made pretty much with hurricanes in mind."

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Associated Press Writers Martha Waggoner and Emery Dalesio in Raleigh; Jack Jones in Columbia, S.C.; Suzette Laboy in Miami; and Bob Lewis in Bristol, Va., contributed to this report.

RALEIGH, N.C. – A powerful Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe much of the East Coast just ahead of Labor Day, worrying countless vacationers who planned to spend the traditional last week of summer at the beach.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency warned people along the Eastern Seaboard to prepare for possible evacuations and islanders in the Turks and Caicos hunkered down in their homes Tuesday as the Category 4 hurricane steamed across the Caribbean with winds of 135 mph.

Earl was expected to remain over the open ocean before turning north and running parallel to the East Coast, bringing high winds and heavy rain to North Carolina's Outer Banks by late Thursday or early Friday. From there, forecasters said, it could curve away from the coast somewhat as it makes it way north, perhaps hitting Massachusetts' Cape Cod and the Maine shoreline on Friday night and Saturday.

"My guests are calling and they don't know what to do and I don't know what to tell them," said Dave Dawson, owner of the oceanfront Cape Hatteras Motel in Buxton, N.C.

Forecasters cautioned that it was still too early to tell how close Earl might come to land. But not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.

"A slight shift of that track to the west is going to impact a great deal of real estate with potential hurricane-force winds," Feltgen said.

Even if Earl stays well offshore, it will kick up rough surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the coast through the Labor Day weekend, a prime time for beach vacations, forecasters said.

The approaching storm troubled many East Coast beach towns that had hoped to capitalize on the BP oil spill and draw visitors who normally vacation on the Gulf Coast.

On Monday, Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands, tearing roofs off homes and knocking out electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten. In Puerto Rico, nearly 187,000 people were without power and 60,000 without water, Gov. Luis Fortuno said. Cruise ships were diverted and flights canceled across the region. But there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

On Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl's outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf.

Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying.

"We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously," Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. "Anybody who hasn't secured their boats by now is going to regret it."

In the U.S., FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said state and local authorities may need to order evacuations along the Eastern Seaboard later this week if the storm does not veer away as expected.

"Today is the day to make sure you have your plan completed and your supplies in place," he said.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Earl was centered about 150 miles east of Grand Turk island — and 1,000 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. — as it headed northwest at 14 mph. Close on its heels was Tropical Storm Fiona, which was not expected to reach hurricane strength for at least several days.

Carl Hanes of Newport News, Va., kept an eye on the weather report as he headed for the beach near his rented vacation home in Avon, N.C. He, his wife and their two teenage children were anticipating Earl might force them to leave on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.

"We're trying not to let it bother us," Hanes said before enjoying the calm surf.

In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Judy Rice said she has no plans to leave the vacation home where she has spent most of the summer. In fact, the Oak Hill, Va., resident plans to walk around town in the rain if it comes.

"I kind of enjoy it actually. You know, it's battling the elements," Rice said. "I have seen the rain go sideways, and, yeah, it can be scary, but I have an old house here in Rehoboth, so it's probably more important that I am here during a storm than anywhere."

In the Florida Panhandle, which has struggled all summer to lure back tourists scared away by the Gulf oil spill, bookings were up 12 percent over last year at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The resort is nowhere near Earl's projected path, and spokeswoman Laurie Hobbs said she suspects the increase in reservations was partly because of a discount the hotel is offering and partly because of the hurricane.

"Weather drives business," she said. "They go to where the weather is best."

If Earl brings rain farther inland, it could affect the U.S. Open tennis tournament, being played now through Sept. 12 in New York City.

"We're keeping our eye on it very closely," said United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier. "It's still a little early to tell how it will track and we're hoping it will stay off the coast."

On the coast of southern Maine, about 15 people have already canceled Labor Day reservations at Burnette's Campground in York because of concerns about Earl, said owner David Woods.

But a Labor Day weekend washout won't have the impact it would have had a decade ago.

"Labor Days have changed in the past 10 years," he said. "It used to be the big bang end to summer, but now from the 15th of August until the first of September, it sort of dwindles off."

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Associated Press Writers Mike Baker in Raleigh; Kathleen Miller in Washington; David Sharpe in Portland, Maine; Suzette Laboy in Miami; Vivian Tyson in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; Ben Fox in Fajardo, Puerto Rico; Anika Kentish in St. John's, Antigua; Judy Fitzpatrick in Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and David McFadden, Mike Melia and Danica Coto in San Juan contributed to this report.