National Post (National Edition)
Accused shooter previously threatened Maryland newspaper,
Held without bond on five counts of murder
The man accused of killing five staff at the Capital Gazette had threatened the newspaper in 2013 but then “went dark,” police said. Until Thursday.
Shortly before Jarrod Ramos blasted out the glass doors of the newsroom near Annapolis, Md., at about 3 p.m., he sent another threat on social media, police said, and then unleashed his rampage, shooting with a legally purchased 12-gauge pumpaction shotgun until he laid it down and hid under a desk as police arrived.
The victims were Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters. Fischman and Hiaasen were editors, McNamara was a reporter, Smith was a sales assistant and Winters worked for special publications.
The news organization and its lawyer had reported the May 2013 threats and spoke with a detective who investigated. The newspaper decided not to pursue criminal charges because it might “exacerbate” the situation, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare said Friday at a news conference.
The threats came amid a lawsuit Ramos filed accusing the paper of defaming him through a column describing his guilty plea to harassing a woman over social media. He lost the defamation case.
On Friday, a judge ordered Ramos to remain detained and ordered him held without bond on five counts of murder. At the bond hearing, state’s attorney Wes Adams said Ramos barricaded the back exit of the newsroom so people could not escape. Adams called Ramos an “overwhelming threat and danger to our community.”
The prosecutor said Ramos worked his way through the office, shooting victims along the way. “There was one victim that attempted to escape through the back door but was shot,” he told the judge. He also used smoke grenades, police said.
Ramos is unemployed and lives alone, according to testimony presented at the hearing.
Police said that after a search of his Laurel, Md., apartment Thursday, they found evidence, that they did not detail, showing he had planned the attack.
“We can’t fathom why that person chose to do this,” Altomare said.
Ramos, police said, acted alone and driving a rental car to the newspaper office. No shots were exchanged as officers arrived and within about a minute of being in the newsroom, police said, found him beneath the desk.
According to county executive Steve Schuh, the social media message Ramos allegedly posted shortly before the attack said “something like ‘leave me alone’ or ‘leave me the hell alone.’ ” He said it was not clear if that message was directed at the Capital Gazette or “at the world.”