A gunman has opened fire at a local newspaper office in Maryland, killing five people and injuring others in what police said was a “targeted attack”.
Staff at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis said the attacker, armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades, shot through a glass door into the newsroom.
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.
Police have not confirmed a motive.
They said a white male suspect in his late 30s was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting and was being questioned.
Investigators were said to be looking into “violent” threats that had been made against the Capital Gazette via social media.
“This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette,” said William Krampf, deputy chief of Anne Arundel County Police. He added that the gunman “entered the building with a shotgun and looked for his victims as he walked through the lower level”.
County executive Steve Schuh told CNN that the suspect was hiding under a desk in the building when police officers arrived “within 60 seconds” of receiving news of the incident. He said there was “no exchange of fire”.
The Capital Gazette publishes several local newspapers, including a daily called The Capital, which has a history dating back to 1884. It is owned by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.
The victims have been identified by police. They are:
Wendi Winters, 65, reporter
Rebecca Smith, 34, sales assistant
Robert Hiaasen, 59, editor
Gerald Fischman, 61, editorial writer
John McNamara, 56, reporter and editor
Author and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen paid tribute to his brother, who was killed in the shooting, calling him “one of the most gentle and funny people I’ve ever known”.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Krampf said an item “we believed to be an explosive device” had been found at the premises and destroyed. He said it turned out to be a smoke bomb.
He added that more than 170 people had been escorted safely from the building, which houses other businesses.
‘War zone’
Staff at the Capital Gazette’s titles were left reeling from the shooting, but vowed to put out an edition on Friday.
“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” tweeted reporter Phil Davis.
Mr Davis described the shooting at the newspaper’s office in Annapolis, just east of Washington DC, as being “like a war zone”.
He said that people were still hiding under their desks when the gunman stopped shooting. “I don’t know why. I don’t know why he stopped,” he told the Baltimore Sun.
Chase Cook, a reporter, tweeted: “I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow.”
President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack. He tweeted that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims and their families.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later condemned the attack on “innocent journalists doing their job”.
Strongly condemn the evil act of senseless violence in Annapolis, MD. A violent attack on innocent journalists doing their job is an attack on every American. Our prayers are with the victims and their friends and families.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said it had deployed counterterrorism teams to media organisations in and around New York City as a precaution.
Another staff member at the Capital Gazette, Selene San Felice, told CNN that her first reaction to the shooting was to lie down under her desk, adding that she attempted to exit through a rear door but it was locked.
Reporter Danielle Ohl said the newsroom was quite small, with “about 20 news staffers” and several advertising staff. “We are close. We are family. I am devastated,” she said.
Jimmy DeButts, the editor at the Capital Gazette, tweeted that he was “heartbroken” following the incident.
Devastated & heartbroken. Numb. Please stop asking for information/interviews. I’m in no position to speak, just know @capgaznews reporters & editors give all they have every day. There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays – just a passion for telling stories from our communty.
Phil, I can’t imagine what you and the entire Capital Gazette team are going through right now. Journalists shouldn’t have to fend off bullets in the newsroom while doing their jobs—this is not normal. Stay strong.
Phil Davis@PhilDavis_CG
There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload
The Department of Homeland Security is warning employees of an increased level of threat to their safety with a series of violent acts taken against them and their children due to the current debate over immigration policy.
In a letter sent to employees, the department said there is a “heightened threat against DHS employees,” according to ABC Radio.
“This assessment is based on specific and credible threats that have been levied against certain DHS employees and a sharp increase in the overall number of general threats against DHS employees,” Claire Grady, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said in the letter.
Threats seem to have advanced well beyond mere talk. The department reported that one official living in Washington, D.C., found a decapitated and burnt animal carcass on his porch.
The threats come as some elected Democrat officials have engaged in extreme rhetoric against those with whom they disagree politically.
California Democrat Maxine Waters, for instance, urged followers to attack Trump administration officials and their children at their homes and public places like restaurants.
Democrat acolytes seem to have taken such suggestions to heart and have stepped up pressure on Republicans in a multitude of venues, including in private life. In the last few days, Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was refused service in a Virginia restaurant, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was chased out of a D.C. Mexican restaurant, and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was harassed in a Movie theater.
Last year a Democrat operative who had worked for Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders went on a shooting rampage at a Virginia baseball park in an effort to kill Republican members of Congress. Several were wounded, including House Majority Whip, Republican Steve Scalise, who has been seriously and permanently crippled by the wounds.
This Fraud Did Nothing To Stop The Violence In Chicago, Plus They Have Tough Gun Laws.
Former President Barack Obama encouraged gun control proponents on Friday to stay committed to securing new gun laws “no matter how long it takes.”
Friday was National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
Obama tweeted that gun control proponents must not only push for a change in laws, but also in “leadership” to secure the new laws:
Barack Obama
✔@BarackObama
This National Gun Violence Awareness Day, show your commitment to keeping our kids safe from gun violence. Then, for everyone we’ve lost, take action to change our leadership and our laws until they reflect that commitment – no matter how long it takes. https://twitter.com/ofa/status/1002554110519009280 …
The Hillreports that Obama’s “progressive group,” Organizing for Action (OFA), also put out calls on Friday for more gun laws, urging gun control proponents to “call on Congress to end gun violence.”
Neither Obama nor OFA shared specifics on which laws Congress could pass to constrain criminals without also making it harder for law-abiding citizens to get the guns they need for self-defense. During Obama’s time in the White House, he supported universal background checks and “assault weapons” bans, among other things. But California has both these laws–and many, many more–yet they also frequently have high-profile shootings.
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — Police say a suspected robber is recovering from two gunshot wounds as he tried to rob a restaurant in Santa Ana.
And police say the bullets came from a customer in the drive-thru lane.
CBS2’s Laurie Perez spoke to a witness and sorts out the bizarre story.
The Cozy Corner’s security cameras were rolling at 12:43 Saturday morning when police say a masked man entered the restaurant with a black revolver and demanded money.
He threw a bag at one of the workers and demanded she fill it with cash. Her hands shaking, she filled the bag. As he grabbed the bag, shots rang out.
At least one shot hits the drink machine. Next you see the man turns and he is wounded and falls to the floor.
“Tres balazos,” said witness and restaurant cook Daniel Acevedo. That translates into three bullets.
Detectives marked at least two bullet holes.
Acevedo said the shots came from the drive-thru window. Security video shows a car fleeing into the night onto Harbor Boulevard.
The cook said a man and two women had pulled up to order food at the same time the robber was inside. He does not believe they were together.
“Al mejor el carro quizo ayudar,” Acevedo said, believing the people in the car were trying to help, at best.
Police responded to the scene and found the suspected robber across the street shot twice in the upper body and bleeding.
The suspect was taken to the hospital where he is in stable condition. Police said they also took a woman he was with into custody.
Hell Yes There Were Signs. He Wore A Trench Coat Every Day Damit?
Texas shooting: Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis charged as 10 are killed and explosive devices found at high school – as it happened
Ten people were killed after a gunman believed to be a student opened fire at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in the latest spasm of gun violence in a country still shaken by the massacre at a Florida high school in February.
Authorities quickly named 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis as their suspect. Later in the day he was charged with capital murder – for which he did not enter a plea – and was denied bond. He was being held in solitary confinement.
Scenes of grief and horror streamed out of the small community less than an hour’s drive from Houston. Stunned and weeping teenagers tried to piece together the mayhem they had experienced. Schools were set to be closed for the start of the following week, with the FBI saying Santa Fe High School and the surrounding area would remain a closed crime scene “for some time”.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the situation at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas.
A number of fatalities have been reported by multiple outlets, but not yet confirmed by officials. The local sheriff has said it is a ‘multiple casualty’ incident.
Local media is saying there are up to 8 fatalities – though these are not official reports and have not been confirmed
Unlike the better known Santa Fe in New Mexico, the Texas city where the shooting has taken place has a population of just 12,222, according to census data
Reports say the shooter is in the custody of local police
Shannon Watts
✔@shannonrwatts
Don’t bother tweeting me that it’s too soon to talk about the need for stronger gun laws. It’s always too soon in America. For kids shot at Santa Fe High School today, it’s too late.
We are assisting @SantaFeISD with a multiple-casualty incident at Santa Fe High School. This is no longer an active shooting situation and the injured are being treated. #hounews
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, just weighed in on today’s shooting in Texas.
“This has been my fear since February 14th, that another mass casualty shooting would happen before we did anything,” he tweeted. “Now, we have 8 more children dead and our leadership in Washington has done nothing. We do not need thoughts and prayers, we need action and we need it now.”
An eye witness describes what she saw
Michael Gravesande
✔@OldBlackHack
UPDATE Eyewitness account: “I shouldn’t be going through this” – One of the students at Santa Fe High School describes the scene of the shooting at her school this morning
Local media reporting suspected shooter may have used shotgun.
Donald Trump speaking live about the “absolutely horrific” incident. “We are with you and we will be with you forever…Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe.”
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez saying there could be 8-10 dead
At a brief press conference, he said two people are being questioned – one suspect, one person of interest. Both are believed to be students at the school, Mr Gonzalez said. The suspect has been arrested, but it is not clear whether the person of interest is speaking to police on their own accord or not.
Reports suggest the high school, located about 30 miles south of Houston, was due to have graduation ceremony tomorrow
From the Houston Chronicle, The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has received three patients, the hospital reported on social media. Two are adults and one is under 18.
Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster received seven injured students, a spokeswoman for that facility said. Previous reports that an injured officer was taken there are wrong, she said. Two other injured students were taken to Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, she said.
Authorities said the assailant appeared to have obtained his weapons – a shotgun and a revolver – from his father, who possessed them legally. Explosive devices were found both at the school and off campus, Mr Gonzalez said.
Court documents said the suspect admitted to authorities having carried out the shooting “with the intent of killing people” and said he spared the lives of students he liked so that “he could have his story told“.
Writings in the suspect’s journals that indicated he wanted to take his own life, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.
“We also know information already that the shooter has information contained in journals on his computer and his cell phone that he said that not only did he want to commit the shooting, but he wanted to commit suicide after the shooting,” he said.
“As you probably know, he gave himself up and admitted at the time he didn’t have the courage to commit the suicide, that he wanted to take his own life earlier,” Abbott added.
Some fellow students described him as quiet. He also played on the school’s American football team.
Donald Trump issues statement after Santa Fe High School shooting
President Donald Trump called the shooting heartbreaking and said that federal and local authorities were coordinating in the wake of the gun attack.
“My administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others,” Mr Trump said at the White House.
READ MORE
‘Multiple fatalities’ reported after shooting at Texas high school
As the day unfolded, Democratic elected officials said the latest shooting again proved the need for tougher gun laws. They were joined by teenage survivors of the Florida shooting who have turned into vocal fun control advocates.
While Mr Abbott said he intended to convene a series of public meetings to find “solutions” that would prevent more shootings, he did not elaborate on details.
USA Today Demonizes AR-15 After Reporting Santa Fe Gunman Used Revolver, Shotgun
AP
USA Today demonized the AR-15 on Friday after reporting that the Santa Fe High School gunman used a revolver and a shotgun in his attack.
The paper referenced Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) statement that the Santa Fe High School attacker used “a shotgun and .38 caliber revolver, both of which he got from his father.”
The article added, “The guns may have slowed down the gunman’s deadly rampage because they have a slower firing rate than firearms used in other recent mass shootings, such as the AR-15.”
USA Today continued, “High-powered rifles such as the AR-15 can be fired more than twice as fast as most handguns. The standard magazine for an AR-15 holds 30 rounds, allowing a shooter to continue firing uninterrupted for longer, making the weapon more lethal than other firearms.”
A few clarifications are in order: 1. A semi-automatic handgun can be fired as fast as a semi-automatic rifle. There is no magic quality about an AR-15 that makes it easier or quicker to fire than a semi-automatic pistol. 2. The Santa Fe gunman used a revolver, which is not semi-automatic, to begin with. However, granting that it was a double-action, it, too, can be fired as quickly as an AR-15. 3. A shotgun, which the Santa Fe gunman also used, is far superior to an AR-15 in close quarters. USA Today belatedly alluded to this by adding, “Clearly the use of any gun can be deadly, especially a shotgun at close range.”
Later in the article, USA Today reported, “Many of the deadliest mass shootings in recent years involved high-powered rifles, notably AR-15 styled rifles. But far fewer have featured shotguns or a revolver as the primary killing weapon.”
On April 3, 2018, Breitbart News listed 25 of our nation’s most prominent mass public attacks, and AR-15s were used eight times. The predominate weapon was a handgun, used 17 times. Shotguns were used in four of the incidents. The Santa Fe attack raises the use of handguns to 18 and shotguns to five, while AR-15s remain as the weapon of choice on eight occasions.
Monday on Power 105.1 FM’s “The Breakfast Club,” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) said she was focused on the 2018 midterm election to help get people elected who she described as having “the courage” to enact specific gun control measures.
This is Willie and his wife.
This is Kamala and her husband.
Harris said, “In this discussion when we are talking about school safety, there are things we need to address that include thinking about why this is an issue. And part of it is that we have not passed meaningful, smart gun safety laws in this country. Let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about how the NRA has grabbed people by different parts of their body and caused people to have a lack of courage. Again, another false choice. I’m in favor of the Second Amendment, and I also want smart gun safety laws. Assault weapons should not be walking the streets of a civilized country. We should have universal background checks.”
She added, “We have had all these tragedies. And I’ll say to you, we don’t need another tragedy to act. We have got a good list of tragedies. So it’s not like we are waiting for the tragedy to act. We have that. We are not waiting for good ideas. The good ideas have been had—universal background check—we need an assault weapons ban. The missing ingredient to get something done is for Congress to act, bottom line. And that’s where I would say, OK what can we as people who want to encourage Congress to act do? What can we do? Let’s focus on the 2018 elections. Let’s focus on electing people who have the courage and getting rid of people who don’t.”