Acting Deputy Chief William Krampf of the Anne Arundel County Police Department told reporters Thursday night during a press conference that the suspect had made violent threats against the paper. He said the paper had been threatened the day of the shooting.
“To my knowledge, those threats were [made] as early as today,” Krampf said. “They were general threats towardsThe CapitalandThe Capital‘s media outlet. They indicated violence.”
Krampf could not confirm specifically what the alleged previous threats entailed or if the suspect was “targeting anyone specifically” at the paper, though he said the shooting was a “targeted attack onThe Capital Gazette.”
The suspect has been identified as Jarrod Warren Ramos, 38, of Laurel.
He brought the unsuccessful suit against then-columnist Eric Hartley, naming Capital Gazette Communications and Thomas Marquardt, the paper’s former editor and publisher, as defendants.
Anne Arundel Police
“He’s a f—— nut job,” the woman told the outlet.
On Thursday, the suspect’s since-disabled Twitter page featured an image of Hartley as its avatar and a banner image of Marquardt and the publication’s former owner, Philip Merrill,The Capital Gazettereports.
At 2:37 p.m., moments before allegedly going on his murderous rampage, the Twitter page was updated with a post that read: “F— you, leave me alone.” The same message, the paper reports,was posted to the account in 2015, the day after the state’s second-highest court upheld a ruling in favor of the newspaper dismissing the suit.
At a bail review hearing Friday morning, prosecutors alleged that the suspect first entered the paper’s offices through a back door, which he barricaded. He then allegedly shot his way through the front door before finding his way to the back door, where he shot people who had tried to flee.
In addition to the five people killed, two were injured during the shooting.
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“The Capitalnewspaper is our local newspaper. We interact withThe Capitalnewspaper daily. We have friends atThe Capitalnewspaper,” Krampf said. “We speak with the men and women there on a daily basis. We are here and we are invested and we will get this investigation right.”
Police responded within 60 to 90 seconds and confronted the shooter, authorities said.
Phil Davis, a reporter withThe Capital Gazette,wrote on Twitter, “Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can’t say much more and don’t want to declare anyone dead, but it’s bad.”
Davisalso tweeted, “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”
source: people.com
