Five people killed in shotgun attack on Maryland newspaper – suspect had grudge over failed lawsuit
Law enforcement sources identified the shooter as Jarrod Ramos, 38, who unsuccessfully sued the ‘Capital Gazette’ for defamation several years ago
First-degree murder charges were filed Friday against a man who allegedly targeted Maryland’s capital newspaper, shooting his way into the newsroom and killing four journalists and a staffer before police swiftly arrested him.
Thursday’s attack on The Capital Gazette in Annapolis came amid months of verbal and online attacks on the “fake news media” from politicians and others from President Donald Trump on down. It prompted New York City police to immediately tighten security at news organisations in the nation’s media capital.
Police said the suspect in custody is a white man in his late 30s.
Acting Police Chief William Krampf of Anne Arundel County called it a targeted attack in which the gunman “looked for his victims.”
“This person was prepared today to come in, this person was prepared to shoot people,” Krampf said.
Journalists crawled under desks and sought other hiding places in what they described as minutes of terror as they heard the gunman’s footsteps and the repeated blasts of the shotgun as he moved about the newsroom. Police said he also was armed with smoke grenades.