A woman who claims she was stalked by the gunman suspected of killing five people at the offices of a Maryland newspaper reportedly told police he would be their “next mass shooter”.

Jarrod Ramos, who was charged with five count of murder on Friday following a shooting spree at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, was described as a “f***ing nutjob” by the unnamed woman.

Speaking to local TV station WBAL-TV she said Ramos had become “fixated” on her, to the point she became so frightened she moved out of the state to get away from him.

The woman claimed she had warned a former police official several years ago that the 38-year-old “will be your next mass shooter”.

Ramos had a long-standing grudge with the Capital Gazette and had unsuccessfully tried to sue the newspaper for defamation in 2012 after reported on a case in which he pleaded guilty to harassing a woman.

He also send a barrage of threatening tweets that led to an investigation five years ago, when a detective concluded he posed no threat.

The report that sparked the alleged shooter’s ire appeared in The Capital in July 2011 under the headline “Jarrod wants to be your friend”.

Court documents reveal the article detailed the court case, in which Ramos admitted tracking down an old classmate on Facebook before subjecting her to a year-long campaign of harassment.

The shooting on Thursday was the deadliest of its kind targeting journalists in US history, leaving newspaper employees Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters dead.

It began with a shotgun blast that shattered the glass entrance to the open newsroom.

Ramos carefully planned the attack, using “a tactical approach in hunting down and shooting the innocent people”, prosecutor Wes Adams claimed.

Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Show all 10 1 /10 Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Police respond to the shooting in Annapolis, AFP/Getty Images Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Pat Furgurson, staff reporter of the Capital Gazette, reports outside the scene of a shooting EPA/JAY FLEMING Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Police and first responders attend the scebe EPA Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted A member of the FBI responds to the shooting in Annapoli AFP/Getty Images Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Authorities work at the scene AP Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Emergency personnel outside the Capital-Gazette newspaper Getty Images Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Capital Gazette reporter Chase Cook, right, and photographer Joshua McKerrow, left, work on the next days newspaper while awaiting news from their colleagues. AFP/Getty Images Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Police respond to a shooting in Annapolis, Maryland, June 28, 2018. At least five people were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire inside the offices of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper published in Annapolis, a historic city an hour east of Washington.A reporter for the daily, Phil Davis, tweeted that a "gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees.""There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," Davis said. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images SAUL LOEB AFP/Getty Images Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted "This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette," William Krampf, the Anne Arundel County acting police chief, said Thursday evening during a press conference, referring ot the joint name that appears at the office to describe the two papers that work inside. "This person was prepared today to come in. This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm, and as I've stated before, the investigative part of this is going to be thorough, and it's going to take some time," EPA Maryland shooting: Capital Gazette newspaper staff targeted Police secure the scene AP

Journalists crawled under desks, describing agonising minutes of terror as they heard the gunman's footsteps and the repeated blasts.

“I was curled up, trying not to breathe, trying not to make a sound, and he shot people all around me,” photographer Paul Gillespie, told The Baltimore Sun, owner of the Annapolis paper.

Mr Gillespie said he heard a colleague scream, “No” before a gunshot blast followed. He heard another co-worker's voice, then another shot.

Police believe Ramos' shotgun was legally purchased about a year ago despite his guilty plea in the harassment case. He also carried smoke grenades, authorities said.