ANNAPOLIS, MD — A gunman who apparently had obsessively harassed reporters and editors at the Capital Gazette in Maryland's capital burst into the newspaper Thursday afternoon with a shotgun and opened fire, killing five people and wounding at least two others as journalists took cover under their desks and then tweeted raw, real-time accounts of the attack. On Friday, police confirmed Jarrod Ramos, 38, of Laurel, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder. A bond review hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in District Court in Annapolis.

"This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette," said William Krampf, deputy chief of the Anne Arundel County Police Department. "This person was prepared today to come in; this person was prepared to shoot people, his intent was to cause harm."

In honor of the five slain newspaper staffers, Gov. Larry Hogan ordered Maryland flags to be lowered to half-staff until sunset on Monday, July 2.

"With the lowering of the Maryland flag, we honor the dedicated journalists of our hometown newspaper in our state's capital. To the family, friends, and colleagues at the Capital Gazette and its parent company, the Baltimore Sun, you have the deepest sympathies of a state in mourning," said Governor Hogan. "There is no amount of clarity that will ever explain or nullify the pain that comes with losing so many lives for so little reason; journalism is a noble profession upon which our democracy depends, and we will fight to defend it."

Ramos has been feuding with the newspaper since 2011, when it reported on his guilty plea for harassing a former classmate. The article detailed how Ramos used social media and emails to put her in fear of her life.

He later claimed the article defamed him and he sued, but the case was dismissed and his appeals to reinstate it were rejected. The article, the courts said, was factually accurate.

Jarrod Ramos, identified as the accused gunman in the Capital Gazette shootings in Annapolis. Via Anne Arundel County Police
SEE ALSO: Editor Had Feared Suspect As 'Crazy Enough' To 'Blow Us All Away'

Ramos, though, continued his harassment of the newspaper's staff; police said he had a vendetta against The Capital. A Twitter account under his name showed hundreds of posts related to the defamation case. Some alluded to other shootings of journalists, including two Virginia television journalists who were killed on live television in 2015.

"He waged a one-person attack on anything he could muster in court against the Capital," Tom Marquardt, the newspaper's editor and publisher until 2012, and who was named in the lawsuit Ramos filed, told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview.

More than that, Ramos was persistent, erratic and angry.

"I said during that time, 'This guy is crazy enough to come in and blow us all away,'" Marquart told the Times, adding that he and other newspaper officials had fretted over how to stop the harassment because police could not arrest him for his actions.

While the dead and wounded lay in The Capital newsroom Thursday, police found the gunman hiding under a desk and took him into custody without exchanging fire, authorities said.

At a late evening press conference Krampf said all of the victims killed were employees at the newspaper. One of them was Rob Hiaasen, a former award-winning feature writer with the Baltimore Sun and Palm Beach Post who joined the Capital as an assistant editor in 2010 and wrote a Sunday column. He had also taught at the University of Maryland. His brother is the novelist and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen.

"I just want people to know what an in­cred­ibly gentle, generous and gifted guy my brother was," Carl Hiaasen told The Washington Post.

"He was a philosopher and a poet," said Tina Reed, a former Capital reporter. "He was a coach, and he was a mentor. He wanted to teach young journalists to be better."

In addition to Hiaasen, 59, Krampf identified those killed as:

  • Wendi Winters, 65, community news reporter and columnist
  • Rebecca Smith, 34, sales assistant
  • Gerald Fischman, 61, editorial writer and editorial page editor
  • John McNamara, 56, sports reporter

Threats of violence against the newspaper were sent over social media prior to the attack and investigators are working to identify their source.

There was no indication any specific person at The Capital was targeted, Krampf said, and police presence had not been increased at the building after the threats.

Krampf said the gunman was carrying flash grenades and smoke bombs in a backpack and that an "explosive device" was found on the newspaper's property, which was a gas can. The gunman used a shotgun in the attack.

The Associated Press, citing police officials, reported that the gunman apparently mutilated his fingertips prior to the attack to avoid identification, but NBC later reported that computer software provided authorities with his name a few hours after he was captured.

The police chief said he could not confirm reports that the suspect obscured his fingerprints and investigators used software to identify him. Krampf did not say how detectives have identified the man.

The nearly 200 people who were inside the multi-business office building that houses the paper were being reunited with family members at the Lord & Taylor loading dock at Annapolis Mall. (You can also call this number to check on a family member and make arrangements to be reunited: 410-768-5522.)

Phil Davis, a courts and crime reporter for the paper, took to Twitter to give a harrowing account of the attack as it unfolded. A single shooter opened fire and shot his colleagues, he wrote, "some of whom are dead." Davis said in a series of tweets that the gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on employees there.

"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," Davis wrote.

SEE ALSO:

Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said shooting victims were taken to both Anne Arundel Medical Center and University of Maryland Shock Trauma in Baltimore for treatment. Four people died at the scene, he said, and the victim taken to Shock Trauma died later. The two people who were injured were hurt by shattered glass.

Within about 45 minutes of the shooting at its offices, the paper managed to post news about it on its website, CapitalGazette.com, using a Baltimore Sun story.

The Capital Gazette is Annapolis' daily paper and is widely read in Maryland's state capital. It is one of the oldest publishers in the country, with roots going back to the Maryland Gazette in 1727. The editorial staff includes 31 people, according to The Washington Post.

Bloomberg Government reporter Madi Alexander started a GoFundMe page to help the shooting victims. The fund had received about $43,000 in donations by 11:30 p.m. Thursday.

"Journalists at the paper are reporting on the deaths of their own colleagues. Please give what you can to help the Capital Gazette newsroom and their journalists," Alexander wrote. "Our hearts break for our colleagues in Annapolis and we want to do whatever we possibly can to help them pay for medical bills, funeral costs, newsroom repairs, and any other unforeseen expenses that might arise as a result of this terrible shooting.

President Trump said he has been briefed on the shooting.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," the president said in a Tweet. "Thank you to all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene."

Renowned Capital Gazette photographer Paul Gillespie said on Twitter that he is OK physically, but he was inside the office during the shooting. "I am lucky to be alive. Please pray for my coworkers who were not as lucky as I was. We lost some truly great people today. I am in shock trying to process this horrible situation. Thanks for all the kind thoughts," Gillespie wrote.

There are 30 tenants — including accountants, lawyers and medical providers — in the building where the newspaper is housed, including five others on the first floor with The Capital.

Bethany Clasing, who works in second floor of the building, told a Sun reporter that she heard a single gunshot and then heard the police yell, "Get down! Get down! Don't move!"

Clasing said she saw a sheriff's deputy standing outside of their door next to a man on the ground who was being patted down. The deputy told Clasing and other employees to stay inside, but "literally a second later, they told us to put our hands up and sprint" away from the building, she said.

"That was the scariest part."

Jimmy DeButts, an editor at the newspaper, tweeted that he is devastated, heartbroken and numb. "I'm in no position to speak, just know reporters & editors give all they have every day. There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays - just a passion for telling stories from our community."

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley commended the quick emergency response and offered his condolences to everyone affected by the tragedy at The Capital Gazette offices.

"We know these reporters very well. We speak with them daily. The Capital is one of the oldest papers in our country and they have been part of the fabric of our city for centuries. Our first responders deal with these journalists, too. This is our family and today's victims were our friends," Buckley said. "Today's tragedy will not be the new normal for our city, county, state or country."

Authorities were searching for other dangers, including any additional explosives that may have been set.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he was devastated to learn of the tragedy.

"The Capital Gazette is my hometown paper, and I have the greatest respect for the fine journalists, and all the men and women, who work there," Hogan said. "They serve each day to shine light on the world around us so that we might see with more clarity and greater understanding."

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued condemned the mass shooting and called for stricter gun control.

"Yet another day where men and women who were simply trying to do their job were terrorized, hiding under desks in fear for their lives," Brady co-presidents Kris Brown and Avery Gardiner said in a statement. "We can't allow this to go on any longer. We can't allow America's epidemic of gun violence to continue. We must organize, we must fight, we must vote, we must stand together and say ENOUGH."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the horrific shooting at Capital Gazette Newspapers today, and especially those who tragically lost their lives," said Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent George Arlotto. "Capital Gazette employees have passionately dedicated themselves to the delivery of high-quality community journalism, including coverage of our school system, that impacts everyone in Anne Arundel County. We grieve with them and their loved ones."

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has responded to the crime scene.

Anne Arundel County police said the shots fired report came in at about 2:35 p.m. at Capital Gazette Communications, 888 Bestgate Road, which is owned by the Baltimore Sun.

A Twitter user said that police directed a stream of people to flee the building with their hands up.

Anthony Messenger, whose Twitter bio says he is an intern at the newspaper tweeted a plea for help at 2:43 p.m.

The newspaper website says the business publishes these publications, The Capital, Maryland Gazette, Bowie Blade-News, Crofton-West County Gazette, Capital Style Magazine and CapitalGazette.com. Tribune Media owns several papers, including the Baltimore Sun. National Public Radio reported the paper has a circulation of about 50,000

Commonly referred to as the Capital, the paper was founded in 1884 as the Evening Gazette. The Baltimore Sun Media Group, owned by Tronc Inc. of Chicago, bought the paper in 2014 from Norfolk, Va.-based Landmark Media Enterprises, according to The Washington Post.

Drivers in the area shared video of multiple police cars streaming to the scene.

Patch will update this breaking news story. Includes reporting by Patch editors Todd Richissin, Elizabeth Janney, Feroze Dhanoa and Dan Hampton.

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PHOTOS: Police respond to a shooting on June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland. - 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 and 45 minutes from Baltimore. Photo credit: Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images

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