Capital Gazette shooting

Capital Gazette shooting
Anne Arundel County is located in Maryland
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (Maryland)
Anne Arundel County is located in the United States
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County
Anne Arundel County (the United States)
Location888 Bestgate Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
U.S.
Coordinates38°59′39″N 76°32′37″W / 38.99417°N 76.54361°W / 38.99417; -76.54361
DateJune 28, 2018
~2:34 p.m. (EDT)
Attack type
Mass shooting
Weapons12-gauge Mossberg 500 pump-action shotgun[1]
Deaths5
Injured2
PerpetratorJarrod Ramos
MotiveNarcissistic injury, grudge against Capital Gazette for reporting negative information about him
ChargesFive counts of first-degree murder; one count of attempted first-degree murder; six counts of first-degree assault; 11 counts of firearm use in commission of a felony or violent crime

On June 28, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at the offices of The Capital, a newspaper serving Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The gunman, Jarrod Ramos, killed five employees with a shotgun and injured two others who were trying to escape. Ramos was arrested shortly thereafter.[2] He pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible to 23 charges; in July 2021, a jury found him criminally responsible.[3][4] It is the deadliest mass shooting in Maryland history.[citation needed]

The Capital had published an article in 2011 about Ramos being put on probation for harassing an acquaintance from high school through social media and email. Ramos, angered by the article, brought a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper but a judge later dismissed the suit. Ramos is alleged to have sent enraged letters and messages to The Capital threatening to attack its newsroom and staff, but no legal action was taken after the threats were received.[5]

Capital Gazette Communications, owned by Tribune Publishing through its subsidiary the Baltimore Sun Media Group, publishes the daily newspapers The Capital and the Maryland Gazette and the weekly Crofton-West County Gazette. At the time of the shooting, its offices were located at 888 Bestgate Road in Parole, an unincorporated area of Anne Arundel County just outside Annapolis.[6][7]

  1. ^ Williams, Timothy; Harmon, Amy (June 29, 2018). "Maryland Shooting Suspect Had Long-Running Dispute With Newspaper". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  2. ^ Higgins, Tucker (June 28, 2018). "Suspect in Maryland newspaper shooting identified". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  3. ^ Bui, Lynh; Cox, Erin; Duggan, Paul (October 28, 2019). "Jarrod Ramos admits killing five in Capital Gazette newsroom attack". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  4. ^ Spielmaker, Connor; Jones, Kay (July 15, 2021). "Maryland jury finds gunman in Capital Gazette shooting criminally responsible and rejects his mental illness argument". CNN. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Stelloh, Tim; Littler, Caryn (July 2, 2018). "Capital Gazette shooting suspect sent chilling letters before newsroom massacre: police". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Rector, Kevin; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (June 29, 2018). "Five dead in 'targeted attack' at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, police say; Laurel man charged with murder". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  7. ^ "About Us". Capital Gazette. Capital Gazette Communications. July 4, 2014. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.