ANNAPOLIS – A shooting at a local newspaper in Maryland left five people dead and more injured on Thursday.
Police said there were multiple fatalities at the scene, and that a suspect was taken in custody from the building that houses the Capital Gazette, a daily newspaper published in Annapolis.
A reporter for the Capital Gazette, Phil Davis, tweeted that a “gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees.”
Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.
— Phil Davis (@PhilDavis_CG) June 28, 2018
“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” Davis added.
Local law enforcement authorities confirmed five fatalities in the shooting with several others “gravely injured.”
Jarrod Ramos, the suspect charged in the killing of five people at the Capital Gazette in Maryland, had a long-term hatred of the paper. He also – like many other perpetrators of mass shootings in America – had a troubling history with women.
Ramos’ vendetta against the Capital Gazette began when the publication accurately reported, in 2011, that he had stalked and harassed a woman for more than a year.
Ramos – who has a degree in computer engineering and worked for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to court documents – pled guilty to criminal harassment. But when the paper ran a column outlining details from the case, Ramos said he had been defamed. He sued the newspaper and the writer, Eric Thomas Hartley, in 2012.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2013 and an appellate court upheld the dismissal in 2015.
The newspaper is located in a four-story office building in Annapolis, the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland.
The White House said President Donald J. Trump had been briefed.
Prior to departing Wisconsin, I was briefed on the shooting at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Thank you to all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2018
“ATF Baltimore is responding to a shooting incident at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis,” the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco said on Twitter.
Maryland governor Larry Hogan said on Twitter he was “absolutely devastated” and was in contact with authorities.
In Memoriam. #CapitalGazette pic.twitter.com/FoEHxWbT5u
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) June 29, 2018
Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen responded to the Gazette journalist on Twitter, saying “journalists shouldn’t have to fend off bullets in the newsroom”.
Phil, I can’t imagine what you and the entire Capital Gazette team are going through right now. Journalists shouldn’t have to fend off bullets in the newsroom while doing their jobs—this is not normal. Stay strong. https://t.co/hchUMIaMN1
— Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) June 28, 2018
The Capital Gazette is a daily newspaper and digital news site that is a part of Capital Gazette Communications. Capital Gazette Communications publishes several local papers and is owned by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.
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