Five dead after shooting at newspaper office in Annapolis, Maryland

US media have named a suspect held by police as Jarrod Ramos. He is reported to have unsuccessfully sued the newspaper group in 2012 for defamation.

A shooting at the offices of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, killed five people Thursday, in what police are calling a “targeted attack.”

The suspected gunman entered the building with a shotgun and smoke grenades and walked through the lower level of the building, where the newspaper is housed, Anne Arundel County deputy police chief Bill Krampf said.

Journalists dived under their desks and pleaded for help on social media. One reporter described the scene as a “war zone.” A photographer said he jumped over a dead colleague and fled for his life.

The victims were identified as Rob Hiaasen, a former feature writer for The Baltimore Sun who joined the Capital Gazette in 2010 as an assistant editor and columnist; Wendi Winters, a community correspondent who headed special publications; Gerald Fischman, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, a staff writer who had covered high school, college and professional sports for decades; and Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant hired in November.

President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack. He tweeted that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims and their families.

Staff at the Capital Gazette’s titles were left reeling from the shooting, but vowed to put out an edition on Friday.

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