Capital Gazette shooting suspect held without bond

WASHINGTON — A Laurel, Maryland, man who had a long-running dispute with the Capital Gazette has been ordered held without bond on five counts of first-degree murder in the deadly shooting Thursday at the Annapolis newspaper.

Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, had his first court appearance in Anne Arundel District Court Friday. He appeared by video from the county detention center and was told he is charged with five counts of first-degree murder and could face life in prison.

In arguing that Ramos be held until trial, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams told Judge Thomas Pryal that the rear door to the Capital Gazette building had been barricaded before Ramos shot through the front door and began “hunting and killing” employees working on the first floor.

“One victim who attempted to escape through the back door was shot, at that point,” Adams told reporters, outside the courthouse.

Pryal told Ramos that given the seriousness of the charges, and the possibility of life in prison, he posed a flight risk.

“There’s also a likelihood you pose a danger to another person and the community,” Pryal said.

Ramos said nothing during the hearing, and was represented by District Public Defender William  Davis.

Court documents say there is security video of the events. They say that Ramos hid under a desk after allegedly shooting the five people until the police found him.

Headshot of Jarrod Ramos
Jarrod Ramos is accused of killing five employees at the Capital Gazette newspaper.

In a brief news conference Friday morning, Anne Arundel County police said Ramos would be in court on murder charges. Lt. Ryan Frashure said the suspect was “not very cooperative.”

In a news conference Thursday night, acting Anne Arundel County Police Chief William Krampf called the shooting “a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette,” but did not say whether the man was targeting specific people.

Krampf said the gunman “looked for his victims as he walked through the lower level” and set off smoke grenades in the building. Two people suffered minor injuries in the shooting.

Ramos’ apartment building was searched in the overnight hours of Thursday into Friday.

At about 9 a.m. Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan ordered all Maryland flags lowered to half-staff.

According to court records, in 2012, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit in Prince George’s County against the Capital Gazette, a reporter and editor over a July 2011 article about Ramos entering a guilty plea to a harassment charge.

The lawsuit was thrown out, but Ramos appealed the case to Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals, and Court of Appeals. In each case, the courts ruled against Ramos.

Crime scene tape surrounds a building housing The Capital Gazette newspaper’s offices, Friday, June 29, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. A man armed with smoke grenades and a shotgun attacked journalists in the building Thursday, killing several people before police quickly stormed the building and arrested him, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
A Capital Gazette newspaper rack displays the day’s front page, Friday, June 29, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. A man armed with smoke grenades and a shotgun attacked journalists in the newspaper’s building Thursday, killing several people before police quickly stormed the building and arrested him, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The building where the Capital Gazette newsroom is housed on 888 Bestgate Road in Annapolis, Maryland. (WTOP/John Domen)
The building where the Capital Gazette newsroom is housed on Bestgate Road in Annapolis, Maryland. (WTOP/John Domen)
Steve Schuh, county executive of Anne Arundel County, holds a copy of The Capital Gazette near the scene of a shooting at the newspaper’s office, Friday, June 29, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. A man armed with smoke grenades and a shotgun attacked journalists in the building Thursday, killing several people before police quickly stormed the building and arrested him, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
This undated photo shows Gerald Fischman, Opinion Page Editor, member of Capital Gazette Editorial Board. Fischman was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
This undated photo shows Rob Hiaasen, Capital Gazette Deputy Editor. Hiaasen was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
This photo provided by the Baltimore Sun shows Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant at The Capital Gazette. Smith was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
This undated photo shows reporter John McNamara of the Capital Gazette. McNamara was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
This undated photo shows Wendi Winters, reporter for the Capital Gazette. Winters was one of the victims when an active shooter targeted the newsroom, Thursday, June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Md. (The Baltimore Sun via AP)
An emergency vehicle blocks a road leading to the scene of a shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper’s offices at dawn, Friday, June 29, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. A man armed with smoke grenades and a shotgun attacked journalists in the building Thursday, killing several people before police quickly stormed the building and arrested him, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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The building where the Capital Gazette newsroom is housed on 888 Bestgate Road in Annapolis, Maryland. (WTOP/John Domen)
On Thursday, shortly before the shooting, the account posted a message addressed to Judge Charles Moylan: “F— you, leave me alone.”

Tom Marquardt, a retired publisher and top editor at the paper who was named as a defendant in Ramos’ lawsuit, told The Capital Gazette on Thursday that he had long been concerned about Ramos’ history of escalating social media attacks against the newspaper and its journalists.

He called police about Ramos in 2013 and considered filing a restraining order against him.

“I was seriously concerned he would threaten us with physical violence,” Marquardt said. “I even told my wife, ‘We have to be concerned. This guy could really hurt us.’”

In the Court of Special Appeals, Moylan wrote about Ramos, “He is aggrieved because the story was sympathetic toward the harassment victim and was not equally understanding of the harassment perpetrator. The appellant wanted equal coverage of his side of the story. He wanted a chance to put the victim in a bad light, in order to justify and explain why he did what he did. That, however, is not the function of defamation law.”

Overnight, a Twitter account with Ramos’ name on it had been suspended.

By Friday, friends and co-workers of the five victims — Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara and Wendi Winters — were describing their devotion to journalism.

According to the Baltimore Sun, which owns the Capital Gazette, a GoFundMe page has been established to attempt to raise $70,000 to assist the Capital Gazette newsroom and its journalists.

The Associated Press and WTOP’s Teta Alim and Jack Moore contributed to this report.

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

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