Capital Gazette shooting: Five killed in ‘targeted’ attack on Maryland newsroom

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  • Gunman bursts into Capital Gazette office in Annapolis
  • Five killed in ‘targeted attack’ on Maryland newspaper
  • Threats had been sent to paper before deadly attack
  • Suspect Jarrod Ramos​ in long-running feud with paper
  • ‘Please help us’: Intern’s tweet as attack unfolded
  • How police arrived at scene of shooting in 60 seconds
  • Staff work in car park to publish paper hours after attack
  • One mass shooting every day: Facts about US gun violence

A man armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades burst into a newspaper office in the US city of Annapolis, killing five employees in what police described as a "targeted attack."

A witness gave a chilling account of how the attacker started shooting through a glass door to the newsroom of Capital Gazette, which publishes one of America’s oldest newspapers, The Capital, in Maryland state.

The gunman was a white man in his late 30s, police said. They said the motive was unclear, but revealed that threats had been sent to the local newspaper via social media before the deadly attack.

The suspect, who was being questioned in custody, was identified by multiple media outlets as Jarrod Ramos, a 38-year-old from Laurel, Maryland, who had a long-running dispute with the newspaper.

In 2012, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the Capital Gazette and a columnist over a July 2011 story that covered a criminal harassment case against him, the newspaper reported.

The dead were named as four journalists – Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara and Wendi Winters – and sales assistant Rebecca Smith. Two other people suffered minor injuries.

The five victims of the Annapolis shooting: (top) Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, (bottom) John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi WintersCredit:
The Capital

Authorities said the attacker entered the building and "looked for his victims." 

"This person was prepared today to come in, this person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm," said acting police chief William Krampf.

"This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette," Krampf said.

Capital Gazette shooting: Everything we know about newspaper shooting in Maryland

Police arrived at the scene within around 60 seconds of the attack on Thursday afternoon.

There was no exchange of gunfire with officers and the suspect was arrested.

Police said the man being interrogated in custody was "not forthcoming" with any motive for the attack. 

But a law enforcement official also said the suspect had mutilated his fingers in what investigators think was an effort to prevent him from being easily identified. Another official said investigators identified the man using facial recognition technology.

Jarrod Ramos, pictured in a police custody image from 2013, is being questioned over the shootingCredit:
Reuters

Police said threats had been made on social media against Capital Gazette as recently as Thursday, and investigators were working to see who they came from. 

Mr Krampf said the house of the suspect had been secured and investigators were now awaiting a search warrant. 

Earlier, a suspected bomb was found at the scene and was taken away by explosive experts. It was later confirmed to be a bag belonging to the suspect, which contained smoke grenades.

Armed police safely escorted more than 170 people from the newspaper buildingCredit:
SAUL LOEB /AFP

News of the Thursday attack began with a chilling tweet sent at 2:43 pm by a summer intern at the paper.

"Active shooter 888 Bestgate please help us," Anthony Messenger wrote on Twitter, sharing the newsroom’s street address.

Phil Davis, a courts and crime reporter for the paper, posted a series of messages on Twitter describing what he had seen. 

Defiant newspaper staff later said "yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow", before the front page of Friday’s edition of The Capital was posted on Twitter.

Law enforcement in Baltimore and New York City increased security at major media outlets as a precaution, authorities said.

Donald Trump, the US president, was briefed on the incident.

He was on his way back to Washington from an event in Wisconsin on Air Force One.  Lindsay Walters, a White House spokeswoman, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with all that are affected.” 

Video images showed people leaving the building, walking through a car park with their hands in the air. Around 170 people were safely evacuated from the building. 

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said: "It’s a tragic situation."

Local politicians repeatedly praised the speed with which police attended the scene, saying the death toll could have been higher had they not acted so swiftly. 

Annapolis shooting

The Capital was founded in 1884 as the Evening Capital, and is one of the oldest newspapers in the US. It has a daily readership of 67,000.

The company that owns it started publishing one of the first US news websites in 1994. 

Trump ignores questions about shooting

 

Details on victims

Wendi Winters was the special publications editor, John McNamara was a writer, Gerald Fischman was editorial page editor, and Rebecca Smith was a sales assistant. 

Victims identified

Police have identified the victims in the shooting. They were:

  • Wendi Winters
  •  Rebecca Smith
  • Robert Hiaasen
  • Gerald Fischman
  • John McNamara 

Rob Hiaasen was a 59-year-old  journalist and columnist. He was brother of novelist Carl Hiaasen, who said said he was "devastated and heartsick" at his loss. He said his brother was "one of the most gentle and funny people I’ve ever known."

Suspect identified by media

Multiple media outlets, including the Associated Press, are reporting  that the suspect has been identified as Jarrod W. Ramos.

In 2012, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the Capital Gazette and a columnist over a July 2011 story that covered a criminal harassment case against him, the newspaper reported.

He brought the suit against the columnist, Eric Hartley, naming Capital Gazette Communications and Thomas Marquardt, the paper’s former editor and publisher, as defendants.

The bio of a Twitter account in Ramos’ name read: “Dear reader: I created this page to defend myself. Now I’m suing the s— out of half of AA County and making corpses of corrupt careers and corporate entities.”

There had been no posts on the account since January 2016 until moments before the shooting. “F— you, leave me alone,” the post at 2:37 p.m. read,

Suspect used smoke grenades

Police have confirmed the suspect – now known to be a white male in his late thirties – used smoke grenades during the attack on Capital Gazette. 

Officers also confirmed that threats had been made on social media against the company as recently as Thursday, and that investigators were working to uncover who the accounts belonged to. 

Police believe the attack was targeted, but were unable to release a possible motive or name of the suspect.

 

Capital Gazette editor "devastated and heatbroken"

Jimmy Debutts, Editor of Capital Gazette has written on Twitter of his heartbreak at today’s events, and paid tribute to his staff.

"We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment," he said.

"We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community.

"We try to expose corruption. We fight to get access to public records & bring to light the inner workings of government despite major hurdles put in our way. The reporters & editors put their all into finding the truth. That is our mission. Will always be."

 

Sarah Sanders condemns "evil act"

White House Press secretary Sanders has tweeted describing the attack on innocent journalists as an attack on every American. 

Ms Sanders who works daily with White House reporters also sent her prayers to victims, friends and families. 

 

Shooting suspect mutilated fingers to hide identity

A law enforcement official says the suspect mutilated his fingers in what investigators think was an effort to prevent him from being easily identified.

The official was briefed on the investigation but was not authorised to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official says investigators believe the suspect was attempting to prevent them from getting a fingerprint match.

The official says that investigators have nonetheless been able to identify the man, though it was not immediately clear how.

Fox news draws criticism for investigating Capital Gazette political leaning

In the immediate aftermath of the newsroom shooting, Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher announced on air that they had looked into the Capital Gazette’s possible "ideological bent" as a potential motive for the shooting.

Drawing fierce criticism from many on social media he continued: "This newspaper, we kind of looked into the editorial board, who’s on it, what topics they covered," he said live on air, before concluding that they were "very much a local newspaper."

"They endorsed a moderate Democrat," Gallagher said. The paper doesn’t have "a major ideological bent" in case "that plays into the motive of it all."

 

Suspect has not given a motive

A leading government official for the Maryland county where the deadly shooting occurred says investigators still don’t have any information about a possible motive.

Police have the the suspect in custody but Anne Arundel County executive Steve Schuh said he "has not been very forthcoming" with information.

Schuh added: "To my knowledge, there was no verbal aspect to the incident where he declared his motives or anything else, so at this point we just don’t know.

Emergency responders at the sceneCredit:
 SAUL LOEB/AFP

 

Gabrielle Giffords: "This is not normal"

Gabrielle Giffords, the American politician who survived being shot in the head in an attempted assassination in 2011, tweeted: "We shouldn’t have to live in a country where our lawmakers refuse to address this uniquely American crisis"

 

Reporter describes terrifying scene

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, which owns the Gazette, Phil Davis said that he and others were still hiding under their desks when the shooter stopped firing.

"I don’t know why. I don’t know why he stopped," he said. "But as much as I’m going to try to articulate how traumatizing it is to be hiding under your desk, you don’t know until you’re there and you feel helpless."

Suspected explosive device found

Police said they found a suspect device and it is being examined for explosives.

Gunman was white and used 'long gun'

Police said the gunman was white and used a "long gun". CNN reported it was a shotgun.

He was engaged by officers but they did not exchange shots.

Capital Gazette carries on reporting

Despite the tragedy the newspaper continued to report the news.

It published a report of the shooting at its office on its website.

 

Where the shooting happened

 

Newspaper is one of oldest in the US

The Capital Gazette was founded in 1884 as the Evening Capital, and is one of the oldest newspapers in the US.

It also moved with the times. The company that owns it started publishing one of the first US news websites in 1994.

It currently has a daily readership of 67,000

US gun debate will reignite

A recent study found that Americans own 40 per cent of the world’s firearms despite accounting for only four per cent of the global population.

Of the 857 million guns owned by civilians, 393 million are in the United States – more than all of the firearms held by ordinary citizens in the other top 25 countries combined, according to the Small Arms Survey.

Advocates of tougher gun laws in the US have stepped up their efforts in the wake of numerous school shootings this year, including the killing of 17 people at a Parkland, Florida high school in February and the killing of 10 people at a Texas high school in May.

Donald Trump sends 'thoughts and prayers'

Mr Trump wrote on Twitter:  "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."

Motive for attack still unknown

Police said the gunman was in custody after he was "engaged" by officers.

The motive for the attack was not yet known. It was not thought to involve terrorism, an official said.

Police confirm five deaths

Police confirmed five people have died and several others were "gravely injured".

Bill Krampf, acting police chief of Anne Arundel County, said: "There’s five fatalities that we know of. There’s several other persons that are gravely injured." 

Police confirm several injuries

Lt. Ryan Frashure, Anne Arundel County police spokesman, said he could not confirm if there were any fatalities, only that there were several injuries.

He said that once the building is secured he would release information about the suspect and the injuries.

“We’re doing our very best,” he said.

 

One shooter in custody

A city spokeswoman says one shooter is now in custody.

Police said they are still investigating and at this point cannot confirm the shooter was working alone. 

Public asked to avoid the area

 

Police search offices of The Baltimore Sun

 The local newspaper is located in a four-story office building. 

Police are also searching the offices of The Baltimore Sun which owns the daily paper. 

Anne Arundel Police at the sceneCredit:
 @joshuamckerrow/Twitter

 

Maryland Governor "devastated"

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said he was "absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis."

"Please, heed all warnings and stay away from the area. Praying for those at the scene and for our community."

Capital Gazette reporter says "it's bad"

Phil Davis, a Gazette crime reporter who was in the office at the time of the shooting, said multiple people had been shot. Police have not confirmed deaths or injuries. 

Mr Davis tweeted: “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.” 

“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”

 

Baltimore Sun confirms newsroom targeted 

The Baltimore Sun, which owns the Annapolis paper, is confirming the shooting occurred at the Capital Gazette offices. A staff member said multiple people were shot, The Sun reports.

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