Crime & Safety

Capital Gazette Shooting Survivors, Family Members Settle Lawsuit

The lawsuit claimed The Baltimore Sun and Tribune Publishing didn't protect employees before the newspaper shooting that killed five people.

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Photos of five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper adorn candles during a vigil, June 29, 2018, across the street from where they were slain in the newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland.
Photos of five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper adorn candles during a vigil, June 29, 2018, across the street from where they were slain in the newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Survivors and family members of five people killed in a 2018 mass shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis have reached a settlement with the newspaper's parent company after claiming it did not do enough to protect employees, according to multiple reports.

The confidential settlement was filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court on Tuesday, The Baltimore Banner reported.

According to the lawsuit, family members and survivors of the deadly shooting claimed The Baltimore Sun Co. LLC and Tribune Publishing Co. LLC. did not do enough to protect employees from convicted shooter Jarrod Ramos, who had a grudge against the newspaper and repeatedly threatened employees, according to WTOP.

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Families and survivors also reached a settlement with Bestgate Corporate Center LLC and St. John Properties Inc., according to the Banner. The companies managed 888 Bestgate Drive in Annapolis, the former site of the newspaper.

Ramos was convicted in 2021 of fatally shooting John McNamara, Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith and Rob Hiaasen on June 28, 2018. Six other employees who were present during the mass shooting survived, although two were wounded.

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Ramos planned the attack after the Capital Gazette wrote about harassment allegations against him. That coverage led to Ramos' long-standing grudge against the paper and the eventual mass shooting.

Ramos pleaded guilty, but not criminally responsible, to all 23 charges on Oct. 28, 2019. Two years later, a jury found Ramos criminally responsible for the killings, rejecting defense attorneys' mental illness arguments.

A judge later sentenced Ramos to five life sentences without the chance of parole. Prosecutors added that the gunman, 41-year Jarrod Ramos of Laurel, also got an additional life term and an extra 345 years in prison.

CAPITAL GAZETTE COVERAGE:

TRIAL COVERAGE:

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