A man who threatened to blow up the Fox 45 Baltimore station Thursday afternoon was shot by police and taken into custody, local US TV networks reported.

The man, wearing a panda onesie and a surgical mask, was shot at least three times in front of cameras when he left the TV station and marched towards the cops. He was in serious but stable condition and "expected to survive," Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said.

The suspect, a 25-year-old man from the Baltimore suburbs, was shot by three police officers after he had refused to take his hands out of his pockets, Smith told the NBC News.

A bomb robot then searched him for nearly one hour and found a phony bomb on him made from chocolate candy bars wrapped in aluminum foil, according to Smith.

Earlier, the television station had been evacuated after the suspect set a car ablaze in the parking lot, entered the lobby and vowed to set off a bomb.

Source: XINHUA