Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis: What we know now

Editors | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Sheriff: Multiple dead after shooting at Maryland newsroom Multiple people are dead after a shooting in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, according to the county sheriff.

At least five people were killed and two were injured when a gunman opened fire in a Maryland newsroom Thursday in what police are calling a "targeted attack" on the newspaper.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said the suspect had put his weapon down and was hiding in the building under a desk when police found him at the Capital Gazette building in Annapolis.

Anne Arundel police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said officers arrived on the scene within 60 seconds of initial reports.

"This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm," William Krampf, acting police chief Anne Arundel County, said at a news conference.

A suspect is in custody

Police described the gunman as an adult white male in his late 30s armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades. Schuh described the suspect as "not being particularly forthcoming."

Police did not officially release the name of the man they took into custody following the shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis. But a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to discuss the case publicly identified the suspect as Jarrod Ramos, 38, of Laurel, Maryland.

Accused shooter had sued paper, held grudge

Ramos had an ongoing grudge with the publication. Court papers show that he had filed a defamation suit against the newspaper in 2012. A judge threw out the lawsuit and said Ramos "fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation."

The case referenced a Capital story by staff writer Eric Thomas Hartley under the headline "Jarrod wants to be your friend." The story described a harrowing situation of a woman who was continually harassed by Ramos after he contacted her on Facebook.

A review of Ramos' tweets to Hartley reveal that Ramos was angry about how the criminal case — and the press coverage of it — was handled. USA TODAY compiled approximately 880 tweets that Ramos made to Hartley's Twitter feed between 2011 and today.

Victims identified

Journalist Rob Hiaasen was among the five victims of Thursday's deadly attack. Hiaasen, 59, was the assistant editor and a columnist for the Capital Gazette, according to the paper's website. Special publications editor Wendi Winters, writer John McNamara, editorial page editor Gerald Fischman and sales assistant Rebecca Smith also died.

Newspaper plans to publish tomorrow

"I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow."

That was the resolute message from reporter Chase Cook just hours after the Capital's newsroom was ripped apart by gunfire. Cook said he was not in the building during the carnage that left five people dead.

Photojournalist Joshua McKerrow also struck a defiant note: "There will be a Capital Friday," he tweeted.

Just after midnight on Friday, the paper tweeted an image of Friday's front page, with the headline "5 shot dead at The Capital."