Gunman kills 5 at Maryland newspaper
Suspect apprehended in targeted attack, police say
BALTIMORE — Five people were killed and at least two others injured in a shooting Thursday at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis in what appeared to be one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history, authorities said.
Among the victims was Assistant Managing Editor Rob Hiaasen, 59, brother of novelist Carl Hiaasen, who grew up in Plantation and attended Plantation High School.
Police said the suspect, identified by media outlets as Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, used a “long gun” in the afternoon attack and is in custody.
Police called the shooting a “targeted attack on The Capital Gazette.”
Bill Krampf, acting police chief for Anne Arundel County, said the shooter used canisters of smoke grenades when he entered the newspaper.
The gunman also mutilated his fingers in a possible effort to thwart identification, according to an official who was briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Another official said authorities used facial recognition technology to identify the suspect.
“The shooter has not been very forthcom-
ing, so we don’t have any information yet on motive,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said.
Police also said the Gazette had received threats on social media prior to Thursday’s shooting. Krampf said investigators are trying to determine whether the threats were connected to the suspect.
Phil Davis, a Capital Gazette crime reporter who was in the building at the time of the shooting, said multiple people were shot, as others — himself included — scrambled for cover under their desks.
“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,” Davis wrote on Twitter as he waited to be interviewed by police. “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”
In a subsequent interview, Davis said it “was like a war zone” inside the newspaper’s offices — a situation that would be “hard to describe for a while.”
“I’m a police reporter. I write about this stuff — not necessarily to this extent, but shootings and death — all the time,” 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.”
Davis said 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.
Police arrived and surrounded the shooter, Davis said.
Police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said officers raced to the scene, arriving in 60 seconds, and took the gunman into custody without an exchange of gunfire.
“If they were not there as quickly as they were it could have been a lot worse,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said.
Buckley said the community is grieving. “These are the guys that come to city council meetings, have to listen to boring politicians and sit there,” he said. “They don’t make a lot of money. It’s just immoral that their lives should be in danger.”
About 170 people were evacuated from the building as police cars and other emergency vehicles converged on the scene. People could be seen leaving the building with their hands up.
Karen Burd, 27, was on her fourth day at work at a tax litigation firm located in the same building as the newspaper. “It’s crazy. You see these things on the news, but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” she said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene. Agents with the ATF will provide support to local law enforcement, said Amanda Hils, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. The ATF can help with tracing weapons, conducting interviews and other assistance.
The FBI was also assisting local authorities.
The shooting, which came amid months of unrelenting verbal and online attacks on the “fake news media” from politicians and others from President Donald Trump on down, prompted New York City to tighten security at news organizations in the nation’s media capital. Police could be seen outside The New York Times, ABC News and Fox News.
The Gazette, owned by the Baltimore Sun, touts itself as one of the oldest publishers in the country, with roots dating to the Maryland Gazette in 1727.
Police were also at the Sun, a Tronc newspaper. Tronc also owns the Chicago Tribune, the New York Daily News, the Hartford Courant, the Orlando Sentinel and Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel, among other publications. Police said law enforcement authorities were at the Sun as a precaution.
Justin Dearborn, chairman and CEO of Tronc, said in a statement, “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues in Annapolis.” He said the company is “focused on providing support to our colleagues and their families.”
Lindsay Walter, a White House spokeswoman, said Trump was briefed on the shooting. She added, “There is no room for violence, and we stick by that. Violence is never tolerated in any form, no matter whom it is against.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, on Twitter, wrote, “Absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis.”
Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch has represented Annapolis since 1987 and said the Capital Gazette is “the voice of the community.”
Journalists were last killed in the country in 2015, when a disgruntled television journalist killed two former colleagues during a live broadcast in Virginia, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Associated Press contributed.