Capital Gazette shooting

Capital Gazette shooting
Part of Gun violence in the United States
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (Maryland)
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (the US)
Location 888 Bestgate Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
United States
Coordinates 38°59′39″N 76°32′37″W / 38.99417°N 76.54361°W / 38.99417; -76.54361Coordinates: 38°59′39″N 76°32′37″W / 38.99417°N 76.54361°W / 38.99417; -76.54361
Date June 28, 2018
~2:34 p.m. (EDT)
Attack type
 Mass shooting
Weapons 12-gauge pump-action shotgun[1]
Deaths 5
Non-fatal injuries
 2
Suspected perpetrator
 Jarrod Ramos, age 38[2]
Charges

Five counts of first-degree murder

Multiple counts of attempted first degree murder

On June 28, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at the offices of The Capital, a newspaper serving Annapolis, Maryland. The gunman, Jarrod Ramos, shot and killed five employees with a shotgun. Two others were injured while trying to escape. Ramos was arrested shortly after and is currently imprisoned while awaiting trial for the shooting.[3]

The newspaper published an article in 2011 about Ramos being put on probation for harassing an acquaintance from high school through social media and email. Ramos, angered by the article, brought a defamation lawsuit against The Capital; a judge later dismissed the suit. Ramos is alleged to have sent enraged letters and messages to the newspaper's offices about his threats to attack the office and its staff; no legal action was taken after the threats were received.[4]

Currently, the shooting is the third-deadliest mass shooting of 2018, after the February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a shooter killed 17 people and injured 17 others, and the May 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, where 10 people were shot and killed and 13 others were wounded.

Capital Gazette

Capital Gazette Communications, owned by Tronc through its subsidiary the Baltimore Sun Media Group, publishes the daily The Capital and the Maryland Gazette newspapers and the weekly Bowie Blade-News and Crofton-West County Gazette. Its offices are located at 888 Bestgate Road in Parole, an unincorporated area of Anne Arundel County just outside Annapolis (the place name assigned by the U.S. Postal Service for addresses in this area).[5][6]

Incident

The Anne Arundel County Police Department reported that the shooting began around 2:34 p.m. (EDT), resulting in five fatalities and the wounding of several other victims.[7] The gunman barricaded the rear exit of the office to prevent people from escaping.[8] Sources reported that the weapon was a "long gun" which would later be described as a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.[9][10][8]

The gunman utilized the weapon to shoot repeatedly after shooting out the newspapers glass door. Phil Davis, a courts and crime reporter at the site of the shooting for The Capital, tweeted that the gunman "shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees".[11] Davis also described the newspaper's offices as a "warzone" after the shooting and described hearing the gunman reload.[5] He said there was a lone male gunman.[12]

During a pause in the shooting survivors moved to take refuge between filling cabinets, with some claiming victim Wendi Winters confronted the gunman, causing the pause.[13] One survivor stated that Winters charged the gunman with a trash can and recycling bin, screaming at him, distracting him long enough for survivors to escape.[14]

Several injured victims were sent to the Anne Arundel Medical Center for treatment.[7][15] County police evacuated 170 people from the building to a re-unification center set up at the nearby Westfield Annapolis shopping center.[16][17] The police reportedly had a one-minute response time, and interviewed survivors in the criminal investigations unit of the Anne Arundel County Police Department.[18] The police discovered the suspect underneath a desk in the office, and surveillance within the office documented the incident and helped ID Ramos as the perpetrator.[19]

An indictment handed down on July 20 includes 5 counts of first degree murder, 1 count of attempted first degree murder, 6 counts of first degree assault, and 11 counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.[20]

Victims

Five people were killed and several others were injured in the attack.[3] Those killed were:

  • Gerald Fischman, age 61, columnist and editorial page editor of The Capital[21]
  • Rob Hiaasen, age 59, assistant editor and weekend columnist of The Capital[22]
  • John McNamara, age 56, sports reporter of The Capital[23] and editor and primary reporter of The Bowie Blade-News[24]
  • Rebecca Smith, age 34, sales assistant of Capital Gazette Communications[11][25]
  • Wendi Winters, age 65, community beat reporter of The Capital[26]

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Capital Gazette shooting was one of only two incidents in which multiple journalists were killed in the United States since the organization began compiling data in 1992. The other incident was the murders of Alison Parker and Adam Ward during a live television interview in 2015.[27]

Suspect

Jarrod Warren Ramos[28][2][3] (born December 21, 1979), age 38, was captured by police and is in custody as a suspect, but he refused to identify himself.[16][29] Early reports said that the gunman mutilated his finger tips to avoid identification,[30][31] but a law enforcement official later stated that an issue with the fingerprint machine had caused the difficulties in identifying the suspect, and that his finger tips had not been mutilated.[32] The suspect was also carrying a backpack with smoke bombs, flashbang devices, and grenades.[16] The police later announced that the attack had been targeted specifically at Capital Gazette Communications.[33][34]

In a court filing, Ramos stated he had seen five mental health professionals for at least 75 visits before the shooting, but despite his pattern of threats Ramos never gave any hint he would actually act on them.[35] Many of those around Ramos, believed him to be a calculated manipulative loner, who would become angry when things didn't go his way, with those afflicted by him convinced he would one day hurt someone.[36] None of Ramos's immediate family responded to requests for comment and other relatives have stated that they have not had contact with him for several years.[37]

Ramos has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder, and ordered to be held without bail after he was determined to be a flight risk and a danger to the community.[19] In July 2018 records showed Ramos was also charged with attempted first degree murder of the survivors of the attack along with first-degree murder.[38] He has also been placed on suicide watch while in custody of law enforcement.[39] During his bail bond hearing Ramos did not speak the entire time.[36]

In July 2018 the case was assigned to Circuit Court Judge Laura S. Kiessling.[38] On August 20, 2018 Ramos was seen in court for a brief hearing where he pled not guilty to all charges, with a deadline of October 24 for his lawyers to enter a revised plea of not criminally responsible.[40]

Previous dispute with newspaper

In 2012, Ramos sued The Capital in a defamation case he brought over a 2011 newspaper article reporting on his guilty plea for criminal harassment.[2][41] After multiple appeals from Ramos, the defamation case against the newspaper was dismissed in 2015 by Prince George's County circuit court judge Maureen M. Lamasney, who ruled in favor of the paper because their reporting was based on publicly available records and Ramos had produced no evidence that the article was inaccurate.[41] Lamasney wrote in her court opinion that Ramos' complaint was "a fundamental failure to understand what defamation law is, and, more particularly, what defamation law is not".[41]

Former Capital editor and publisher Thomas Marquardt said Ramos began harassing the staff of the newspaper after the article on him was published in 2011.[2] In 2013, Marquardt contacted the Anne Arundel County Police Department about Ramos' behavior but the department did not pursue the report.[2] Marquardt also consulted the newspaper's attorneys about filing a restraining order against Ramos, and recalled telling them "This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us."[2] After his lawsuit against the newspaper was dismissed, Ramos opened a Twitter account, which he used to attack the newspaper and taunt its owners and staff.[2][42] A former FBI senior profiler speculated that Ramos was "an injustice collector" which she described as "someone who goes through life...collect[ing] injustices, real or imagined".[43]

Ramos reportedly previously sent threatening letters to the newspaper's former attorney, to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, and to Charles Moylan Jr., the appellate judge who had ruled against Ramos in his defamation case.[44]

Other lawsuits

Ramos' use of the criminal justice system as a form of attempting to get his way was seen in at least two other cases. When he was dismissed from his job at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over "suitability concerns", he sued the agency and won the case yet was still dismissed from the agency. In 2009, a former classmate took out peace orders (used to prevent contact between people), followed by criminal harassment charges which he lost.[36] In an affidavit the harassment victim wrote, "I am physically afraid of Mr. Ramos, and that he may cause me serious physical injury and/or death."[37]

June 28 letters

On Thursday, June 28, police reported that Ramos sent letters to three people who had been involved in his defamation lawsuit, with a packet being received by The Capital's former attorney which included a letter addressed to Judge Moylan who wrote the opinion upholding the dismissal of his defamation case. In it he wrote "Welcome, Mr. Moylan, to your unexpected legacy: YOU should have died...Friends forever, Jarrod W. Ramos."[37] The letter continues; "I further certify I then did proceed to the office of respondent Capital-Gazette Communications...with the objective of killing every person present."[45] One of the letters, that is thought to be written by the suspect was published by other news sources.

Reactions

Police were also sent to the offices of The Baltimore Sun, which owns Capital Gazette Communications,[12] as a precaution, although no threat was registered there.[5] The New York City Police Department also deployed counter-terrorism units to the headquarters of major news outlets in New York City as a precaution against similar attacks.[46] The Chicago Police Department also took similar actions.[47]

Political

President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and offered his thoughts and prayers by tweet.[48] He later declined to lower U.S. flags to half-staff, as is custom for mass shootings, despite requests from Annapolis mayor Gavin Buckley and the lowering of Maryland flags by the Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan.[49] On July 3, it was reported that the White House permitted the lowering of the US Flags on federal buildings for the day, with the President then issuing a proclamation for the flags to be lowered nationwide until sunset on July 3.[50]

Some commentators have called the shooting an attack on the media and framed it alongside comments by Trump that the "fake news media" (The New York Times, The Washington Post, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC News) are the "enemy of the people".[51][52][53] The Monday before the shooting, Trump used the same "enemy" phrase to describe "fake newsers" journalists.[54] The Sunday after the shooting, the staff of the Capital Gazette wrote: "We won't forget being called an enemy of the people".[55]

Days before, right wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos wrote that he "can't wait for vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight" in text messages to reporters. After the shooting, Yiannopoulos said the texts were a just a joke.[56][57]

Governor Hogan tweeted that he was "[a]bsolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis", and asked residents to "heed all warnings and stay away from the area".[5][58] In a press conference, he praised local law enforcement for responding within 60 seconds.[16]

Journalism

Justin Dearborn, the chairman and CEO of Tronc, said: "We are focused now on providing our employees and their families with support during this tragic time. We commend the police and first responders for their quick response."[59] The owner of the Capital Gazette created a fund for the families, victims and survivors of the shooting, in addition to a scholarship memorial fund for journalism students.[60] A separate GoFundMe fundraiser, created by a Bloomberg Government reporter hit the initial target and has grown to almost $200,000 by July 1.[61]

Reporters for The Capital and Gazette began coverage of the shooting as it happened, from the newsroom and while returning from the field. Despite the shooting, journalists and staff at The Capital insisted on putting out the next edition of their paper only hours after the fatal shootings.[62] The edition's opinion page was left blank to commemorate the victims, with the exception of a small note stating that the staff "are speechless".[63]

On July 1, The Capital published an editorial, signed by its entire staff of reporters and editors, thanking the citizens of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for their support following the shooting.[64]

Vigils and memorials

Colleagues, friends and family members of the deceased victims held a candlelit vigil on the streets of Annapolis on June 29 to honor the deceased. Capital Gazette reporter Phil Davis read the names of the deceased, and told the crowds that they were here "to honor who (the victims) were and what their families did not have to go through".[65]

On July 2, Annapolis mayor Gavin Buckley announced that the city planned to hold a summer music festival that will act as a celebration of the freedom of the press and as a memorial for the journalists who were killed.[66]

The concert was held on July 28 under the title Annapolis Rising: A Benefit for The Capital Gazette and Free Press. The event featured performances by the rock bands Good Charlotte and Less Than Jake, a presentation by comedian Jordan Klepper and a speech by Washington Post editor-in-chief Martin Baron.[67] Proceeds from this event will be used to benefit a fund established for the victims and survivors as well as journalism scholarships.[68]

On July 3, the equipment manager of the Washington Capitals, the 2018 Stanley Cup champions, brought the Stanley Cup to the Capital Gazette's temporary office to boost the employees' morale.[69][70]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Maryland Shooting Suspect Had Long-Running Dispute With Newspaper". The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Duncan, Ian; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (June 28, 2018). "Sources identify suspect in Annapolis Capital shooting as Jarrod Ramos, who had long-running feud with paper". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Higgins, Tucker (June 28, 2018). "Suspect in Maryland newspaper shooting identified". CNBC. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Capital Gazette shooting suspect sent chilling letters before newsroom massacre: police". NBC News. 2 July 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Rector, Kevin (June 28, 2018). "Shooting reported at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, staff say". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ "About Us". Capital Gazette. Capital Gazette Comunications. July 4, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Hensley, Sarah Beth (June 28, 2018). "Injuries reported in active shooter incident at Capital Gazette building in Annapolis". WTOP. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Witte, Brian (June 29, 2018). "Police called suspect in newsroom rampage no threat in 2013". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ "5 dead in shooting at newspaper building in Maryland, suspect in custody". Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Every Newspaper Reporter Knows Jarrod Ramos". Esquire. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  11. 1 2 Meg Wagner; Veronica Rocha; Brian Ries (June 28, 2018). "Shooting at Maryland newspaper". CNN. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Rector, Kevin (June 28, 2018). "Five dead, others 'gravely injured' in shooting at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis". Capital Gazette. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ CNN, Jessica Campisi and Saeed Ahmed,. "When the gunman attacked the Capital Gazette office, one staffer charged at him". CNN. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  14. ↑ Ohl, Danielle. "'Wendi Winters saved my life': Capital Gazette staff say their fallen colleague charged the shooter". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  15. ↑ "5 killed, others wounded at Maryland newspaper shooting". Associated Press. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "5 dead in shooting at newspaper building in Maryland, suspect in custody". CBS News. Associated Press. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Capital Gazette Shooting: 5 dead as active shooter opens fire in Annapolis, officials say". KMSP 9. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  18. ↑ Stonesifer, Jared. "Beaver Falls native recounts daughter's experience surviving Capital Gazette shootings". The Times. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  19. 1 2 Sun, Baltimore. "Charging documents: Jarrod Ramos". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-07-13.
  20. ↑ [casesearch.courts.md.us/casesearch/inquiryDetail.jis?caseId=C02CR18001515&loc=608&detail_oc=ODYCRIM "Maryland Judiciary Case Search"] Check |url= value (help). Maryland Judiciary Case Search. Retrieved 8/11/18. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  21. ↑ Cox, Erin. "Capital Gazette shooting victim Gerald Fischman: Clever and quirky voice of a community newspaper". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  22. ↑ Marbella, Jean. "Capital Gazette editor Rob Hiaasen identified as victim of shooting at newspaper". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  23. ↑ McDaniels, Andrea K. "Capital Gazette shooting victim John McNamara: Sports reporting was his dream job". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Bowie Mourns the Loss of John McNamara". The City of Bowie. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  25. ↑ Anderson, Jessica. "Capital Gazette shooting victim Rebecca Smith: Recent hire loved spending time with family". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  26. ↑ Wenger, Yvonne. "Capital Gazette shooting victim Wendi Winters: A prolific writer who chronicled her community". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  27. ↑ Duncan, Ian. "Fatal shooting of 5 at Capital Gazette is rare attack on U.S. journalists". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  28. ↑ Morrison, Sean (June 29, 2018). "Maryland shooting: Jarrod Warren Ramos, 38, named as suspect after five killed in gun attack on US newsroom". Evening Standard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Annapolis shooting: Five killed in attack on US newspaper". BBC News. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Annapolis shooting suspect damaged his fingertips to thwart identification, source says". CBS News. June 28, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Suspect's fingerprints appear to have been altered, sources say". CNN. June 28, 2018.
  32. ↑ "What we know about the Capital Gazette shooting suspect". ABC7 Chicago. June 28, 2018.
  33. ↑ Bui, Lynh; Wiggins, Ovetta; Jackman, Tom (June 28, 2018). "Five dead, gunman in custody after targeted shooting at Capital Gazette building in Annapolis, police say". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  34. ↑ Stanglin, Doug; Bacon, John; Cummings, William; Rossman, Sean (June 28, 2018). "5 killed in 'targeted attack' on Capital Gazette newspaper, police say". USA Today. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Capital Gazette shooting suspect seen as angry loner, obsessed with those who 'wronged' him". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  36. 1 2 3 Cook, Chase. "Capital Gazette homicide suspect Jarrod Ramos was an 'outcast of the outcasts,' classmate says". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  37. 1 2 3 Bogel-Burroughs, Ian Duncan, Nicholas. "Capital Gazette shooting suspect's anger flared, and fell silent. Then, police say, it exploded". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  38. 1 2 Cook, Chase. "Capital Gazette homicide charges come to court Monday". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  39. ↑ "Gunman Was Methodical, Blocked Victims' Escape: Prosecutor". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  40. ↑ Rydell, John. "Lawyers for Capital Gazette shooting suspect could consider insanity plea". WBFF. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  41. 1 2 3 Pratt, Tim (September 22, 2015). "Appellate court upholds ruling in favor of Capital-Gazette". Capital Gazette. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  42. ↑ Becket, Stefan. "Jarrod Ramos, 38, identified as suspect in Annapolis shooting". CBS News. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  43. ↑ "Annapolis shooting suspect "an injustice collector," former FBI profiler says".
  44. ↑ Duncan, Ian; Richman, Talia (July 2, 2018). "Capital Gazette suspect allegedly mailed threatening letters before Thursday's shooting". The Baltimore Sun.
  45. ↑ CNN, Mark Morales and Ray Sanchez,. "Newspaper shooting suspect's letter says aim was 'killing every person present'". CNN. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  46. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (June 28, 2018). "NYPD Sends Officers to New York Media Outlets After Annapolis Shooting". Variety. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  47. ↑ "Police Sent To Media Outlets In Chicago After Maryland Newsroom Shooting". CBS 2 Chicago. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  48. ↑ Shapiro, Emily (June 28, 2018). "5 dead in shooting at Annapolis newspaper: Officials". ABC News. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  49. ↑ Ohl, Danielle (July 2, 2018). "Trump declines request to lower flags in memory of Capital Gazette shooting victims". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  50. ↑ Ohl, Danielle. "White House orders U.S. flags lowered for Capital Gazette victims after Annapolis mayor said initial request declined". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  51. ↑ Pope, Kyle (June 29, 2018). "The war against the press comes to the local newsroom". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  52. ↑ Mayfield, Mandy (June 28, 2018). "Journalists call out Trump for anti-press rhetoric following Annapolis newsroom shooting". Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  53. ↑ Kirell, Andrew; Arciga, Julia. "Trump Now Says Journalists Should Be 'Free From Fear' After Previously Calling Them 'Enemies of the People'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  54. ↑ Baynes, Chris. "Maryland shooting: Trump ducks questions over Capital Gazette killings, as president's attacks on journalists come into focus". The Independent. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  55. ↑ Wise, Justin. "Capital Gazette staff: 'Keep reading, we've only just begun'". The Hill. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  56. ↑ Gore, Leada (June 29, 2018). "Capital Gazette shooting: Milo Yiannopoulos says 'gunning down journalists' line was joke". The Birmingham News. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  57. ↑ Fink, Jenni (June 28, 2018). "Milo Yiannopoulos Responds to Annapolis Capital Gazette Shooting: Vigilantes Shooting Journalists Comment Was a Joke". Newsweek. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  58. ↑ "Md. Gov. Hogan, Trump react to Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis". WTOP.com. June 28, 2018.
  59. ↑ "tronc, Inc. Statement on Shooting in Annapolis, Maryland". NASDAQ. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  60. ↑ Campbell, Colin. "Capital Gazette owner creates fund for shooting victims, families and scholarship for journalism students". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  61. ↑ Mirabella, Lorraine. "D.C. journalist aims to raise $200,000 for Capital Gazette shooting victims through GoFundMe". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  62. ↑ Ed Pilkington, Ben Jacobs, and Kate Lyons (June 29, 2018). "'We're putting out a damn paper' - Capital Gazette publishes despite attack". The Guardian. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  63. ↑ ""Speechless": Capital Gazette opinion page left blank after deadly shooting". CBS News. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  64. ↑ "Our Say: Thank you. We will not forget". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  65. ↑ "Vigil honors victims, families of Capital Gazette shooting | WTOP". wtop.com. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  66. ↑ Ohl, Danielle. "Annapolis mayor planning press freedom festival to honor Capital Gazette shooting victims". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  67. ↑ Furgurson III, E.B. "Annapolis joins together to honor Capital Gazette victims, freedom of the press". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  68. ↑ "Good Charlotte to Headline Benefit Concert for 5 Killed in Capital Gazette Shooting". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  69. ↑ Wagner, Bill (3 July 2018). "Stanley Cup visits the temporary Capital Gazette office". Capital Gazette. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  70. ↑ Allen, Scott (3 July 2018). "The Stanley Cup visited the Capital Gazette's temporary office in Annapolis". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
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