Officials on Friday charged a man who they say opened fire with a shotgun inside an Annapolis, Maryland, newsroom, killing five people in what police called a "targeted attack".
The suspect, Jarrod Ramos, 38, had sued the Capital Gazette newspaper six years ago and lost. He was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, according to Maryland court documents, NBC News reported.
The five killed were identified as Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith, Robert Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman and John McNamara.
"This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm," Bill Krampf, deputy police chief of Anne Arundel County, said at a news conference Thursday evening. Two people suffered superficial wounds, possibly from broken glass, he said.
Ramos, who is from Maryland, sued the Capital Gazette for defamation in 2012 after a columnist wrote about his guilty plea to criminal harassment in 2011. His case was dismissed, and an appeals court affirmed the decision.
On Thursday around 2:40 p.m. local time, police were notified about an active shooter, authorities said. The gunman also had smoke grenades that he used when he entered the building, Krampf said. Earlier, he had identified the grenades as a "possible explosive device."
Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Ryan Frashure said there was no exchange of gunfire between the gunman and police.
The Capital Gazette is one of the oldest publishers in the country, starting in 1727 with the Maryland Gazette.
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