Assassination attempt in Annapolis

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In an attack in Annapolis , the capital of the US state of Maryland , in June 2018, a man in the editorial office of a newspaper publisher shot dead at least five people and injured two.

Sequence of events

The attack was aimed at the daily newspaper publisher “Capital Gazette Communications”. He publishes several newspapers, including The Capital, founded in 1884, and the Maryland Gazette . Founded in 1727 by William Parks as The Maryland Gazette in Annapolis, it is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. The newspaper publisher is now part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group , which in turn is owned by the Tronc media group .

At around 2:32 p.m. on June 28, 2018, a man in military uniform walked into the publisher's premises at 888 Bestgate Road in Annapolis , Maryland. The perpetrator shot a shotgun through a glass door and threw smoke grenades . At least five people died and two more were injured. All victims were newspaper employees, including columnist Gerald Fischman, Baltimore Sun editor Rob Hiaasen, sports reporter John McNamara, local reporter Wendi Winters and sales assistant Rebecca Smith.

Perpetrator

A 38-year-old man from Laurel , Maryland , about 25 miles away , was arrested. He was identified by facial recognition technology . According to his lawyer, he is an IT technician.

prehistory

The 38-year-old had contacted an ex-school colleague on social media. He told her about personal problems and she offered help. Finally, he cursed and defamed her. She complained of harassment , he pleaded guilty in court, and was sentenced to 90 days in prison.

In 2011, the local newspaper The Capital reported in the article "Jarrod wants to be your friend" about the stalking allegation against him. He sued the newspaper publisher for defamation because he believed that his point of view had not been adequately taken into account, but lost the process and appealed, whereupon the court's decision was upheld in the second instance in 2015. As a result, the man threatened the newspaper publisher on social media. According to media reports, these verbal attacks ended around two years before the attack. Neither the columnist who reported on the harassment nor the editor and publisher at the time were working for the newspaper at the time of the attack.

Reactions

US President Donald Trump announced via the short message service Twitter that his thoughts were with the victims and their families, for whom he also prayed. Maryland Governor Republican Larry Hogan was concerned.

The Capital appeared the next day with the expression of mourning "... we are speechless ...", the names of those killed and an otherwise white front page.

Reporters Without Borders said it was "deeply shocked" by the incident. "This is a new tragedy for journalism, victims of increasing violence against journalists, including in democracies," said Secretary General Christophe Deloire.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 5 killed, others wounded at Maryland newspaper shooting , Associated Press . June 28, 2018. 
  2. ↑ a b "At least five dead in shooting in the US newsroom" , derstandard.at , accessed on June 28, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hollie Silverman, Janet DiGiacomo, Darran Simon: Victims of Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis - Baltimore Sun. In: .om. June 29, 2018, accessed June 29, 2018 (English; restricted access).
  4. ↑ Hollie Silverman, Janet DiGiacomo, Darran Simon: Five dead in shooting at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. In: cnn.com. June 29, 2018, accessed June 29, 2018 (English; restricted access).
  5. ^ Sean Morrison: Maryland shooting: Jarrod Warren Ramos, 38, named as suspect after five killed in gun attack on US newsroom , Evening Standard . June 29, 2018. 
  6. ↑ Shots in the US newspaper office - five dead. In: Spiegel Online. June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  7. ↑ a b Sagittarius wanted to take revenge on newspaper: bitter legal dispute lost. In: orf.at . June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Five dead from gunfire in the US newspaper editorial office , Mr aktuell, June 28, 2018

Coordinates: 38 ° 59 ′ 39 ″  N , 76 ° 32 ′ 37 ″  W.