Multiple injuries, fatalities after shooting at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis

World Today

Published June 28, 2018 at 3:34 PM
Updated June 28, 2018 at 9:33 PM

At least five people are dead and multiple injured after a shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland.

Published reports are saying the identity of the suspected gunman as Jarrod Ramos, a Maryland resident. According to the Baltimore Sun, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper in 2012.

At a press briefing, Lt. Ryan Frashure of Anne Arundel Police stated there is only one suspect, a young white male, and that he is being questioned. No motive for the shooting has been established.

In less than an hour after the shooting, reporters from the paper managed to post news and updates of the event on their website.

READ: Capital Gazette coverage of mass shooting at their own offices

Gazette reporter Phil Davis, who hid under his desk during the shooting, said he witnessed multiple people being shot inside the newsroom. He also said the shooter was a “lone gunman.”

After escaping to safety, Davis tweeted details of the shooting: “Can’t say much more and don’t want to declare anyone dead, but it’s bad.”

Davis continued:

As police continued their investigation of the crime scene, CGTN’s Sean Callebs gave us this Facebook Live outside the offices of the Capital Gazette.

Annapolis is 30 miles from Washington, DC on the eastern shore of Maryland.

Police state they received the call on an active shooter at 888 Bestgate Road at 2:40 p.m. on Thursday. According to Lt. Frashure, authorities arrived in less than 2 minutes where they “engaged” the gunman. “If they were not there as quickly as they were it could have been a lot worse,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said.

Jimmy DeButts, an editor at the Capital Gazette, responded to the horrific events that took place at his newspaper.

On TV reports, people could be seen leaving the building with their hands up, as police officers urged them to depart through a parking lot and officers converged on the building.

In this frame from video, people leave the Capital Gazette newspaper after multiple people have been shot on Thursday, June 28, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. (WJLA via AP)

Marc Limansky is a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Police Department. He says officers are searching the building in Annapolis where the shooting was reported. He says the situation is “active and ongoing.”

Maryland governor Larry Hogan tweeted that he was “Absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis.”

The police were also present at the offices of the Baltimore Sun, which owns the Capital Gazette.

This story includes reporting from The Associated Press.