Jarrod Ramos: What we know about the suspect in Capital Gazette shooting
A man who had a long-running feud with an Annapolis, Maryland, newspaper stormed the paper's newsroom Thursday, shooting and killing five people and wounding two others.
Jarrod W. Ramos, 39, opened fire with a shotgun shortly after 3 p.m. in the newsroom of The Capital Gazette, police said.
According to authorities, Ramos had sued the newspaper, and after the suit was dismissed, had threatened some working there via social media.
#Annapolis Shooting Update: suspect in custody is identified as Jarrod Ramos DOB: 12/21/79 of Laurel, Maryland. pic.twitter.com/TwaZHFXy6X
— Anne Arundel Police (@AACOPD) June 29, 2018
Four people died on the scene and one, a woman, died after being taken to a hospital.
Ramos was charged late Thursday with five counts of first-degree murder. He will go before a judge Friday morning.
Here is what we know now about Ramos:
- Ramos shot through the glass door of the newsroom with a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun. The gun was legally purchased by Ramos.
- He is the only suspect in the shooting.
- Police responded within 60 seconds, according to law enforcement officials, and apparently interrupted the shooting and apprehended Ramos.
- Ramos was hiding under a desk when police found him. Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare said Friday morning.
- Ramos was not shot. No shots were fired by law enforcement, Altomare said.
- He was identified through facial recognition technology.
- Media reports say Ramos did not cooperate with authorities, and that he did not have identification on his person when he was taken into custody.
- Phil Davis, a Capital Gazette crime reporter who was in the building at the time of the shooting, said he heard Ramos reloading his gun.
- A man who works in another business in the building saw Ramos go into the newsroom and that Ramos appeared to be "targeting" people with a "big shotgun."
- Ramos brought smoke grenades to the building.
- CBS reported that Ramos damaged his fingers prior to the attack so police could not identify him via fingerprints. Anne Arundel Police Chief William Krampf said he did not know anything about that.
- Krampf said "This was a targeted attack," and that Ramos looked for specific victims as he went through the building. "His intent was to cause harm."
- Ramos lived in Laurel, Maryland.
- All those shot were on the first floor of the building.
- Krampf said the newspaper had received threats through social media. He did not elaborate on the threats and said they were trying to confirm the threats came from Ramos.
- Ramos worked for the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics as recently as 2012, The New York Times reported. He has a degree in computer engineering, according to the story.
- According to prosecutors, Ramos first blocked the rear door of the newsroom where people could have escaped the attack. He shot at least one person trying to flee out of that door.
- He is being held without bail.
