The Other McCain

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UPDATED: At Least Five Dead in Shooting at Annapolis, Md., Newspaper Office, Suspect Is a Young White Male

Posted on | June 28, 2018 | 1 Comment

Breaking news from Maryland’s state capital:

A shooting has occurred at the Capital Gazette in Anne Arundel County, a paper that is owned by The Baltimore Sun, according to reports from Gazette staff.
Anne Arundel County Police confirmed there was an “active shooter” at 888 Bestgate Road, where the newspaper’s offices are located. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed it was responding to a “shooting incident” at the Gazette.
Phil Davis, a Gazette reporter, said that multiple people had been shot. Police did not immediately respond to requests for further information.
Police were also at The Baltimore Sun newsroom in Baltimore. Police said there was no threat on the Sun, and that their presence was a precaution.

UPDATE: CBS News:

A law enforcement source confirms to CBS News’ Jeff Pegues that there are injuries.
An aerial view shows a massive police presence and people being led out of a building with their hands raised. Medevac helicopters could also be seen responding.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters says President Trump has been briefed on the shooting and “our thoughts and prayers are with all that are affected.”

CNN says sources tell them one person is in custody, although it is not clear whether this is the shooter, and the motive is still unknown.
UPDATE II: Annapolis is about 30 miles south of Baltimore, which is one of the most violent cities in America:

Baltimore has set a new per-capita homicide record as gunmen killed for drugs, cash, payback — or no apparent reason at all.
A surge of homicides in the starkly divided city resulted in 343 killings in 2017, bringing the annual homicide rate to its highest ever — roughly 56 killings per 100,000 people.

Baltimore is second only to St. Louis for highest per capita murder rate. Whether this has any relevance to the shooting in Annapolis, I don’t know, but the point is that six people are murdered during an average week in Baltimore, without ever attracting national media attention, but this shooting at an Annapolis newspaper office is all over CNN.

UPDATE III: Fox News reports:

Multiple deaths were confirmed in Maryland on Thursday after a suspect opened fire outside of the Capital Gazette’s newsroom in Anne Arundel County — as journalists covering the terrifying scene inside their building.
The suspect was apprehended, Sheriff Ron Bateman told Fox News, but local police confirmed news of an “active shooter situation” on Twitter. The FBI’s Baltimore field office has responded to the scene.
Amid the shooting, reporters and employees for the local newspaper continued to do their jobs.
Anthony Messenger, an intern for the news outlet, tweeted of an “active shooter” at 888 Bestgate — the office building of the Gazette. “Please help us,” Messenger wrote.
Reporter Phil Davis detailed more information of what happened in his newsroom online, writing: “A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.”
“Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees,” he said. Davis said that while he couldn’t give a conclusive number of fatalities, “it’s bad.”

UPDATE IV: In a news conference at the scene, authorities confirmed “several” fatalities and “several” wounded. The suspect is in custody and “is being interviewed by detectives.”

UPDATE V: According to CBS News, the shooter is a white male in his 20s who wasn’t carrying any identification and refused to tell authorities his identity. At least five people are dead, while the number of wounded has not been confirmed.

UPDATE VI: CBS News adds further details:

The suspect accused of killing five people in a shooting at a Maryland newspaper had damaged the tips of his fingers in an apparent attempt to thwart efforts by police to identify him by his fingerprints, a law enforcement officials tells CBS News. Authorities said the suspect is a white male in his 20s who they have not yet identified. . . .
The suspect did not have identification on his person. He’s described as having long hair. A law enforcement source says authorities are using other means of identifying him, including facial recognition technology to search databases of passports and driver’s licenses.
A law enforcement source said he carried smoke bombs or flash bangs in his backpack. Police said he used a “long gun” in the shooting, which a source said was a shotgun.
CBS News has also learned the gunman opened fire through the glass door into the newsroom. Eyewitness told authorities the shots sent reporters and other employees under desks and other hiding places.
Pegues reports that investigators will be trying determine the suspect’s motive. They will try to recover the suspect’s electronic devices — if there are any — and to see if he has any social media accounts.

It is important to avoid speculation in the immediate aftermath of incidents like this. What was the gunman’s motive? We don’t know, because we don’t even know who the gunman is yet. Of course, it’s possible that the shooter had some sort of political motive, but so far we have no evidence to indicate what that motive might be.

 

Category: Crime, Maryland

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One Response to “UPDATED: At Least Five Dead in Shooting at Annapolis, Md., Newspaper Office, Suspect Is a Young White Male”

  1. Jarrod Ramos Identified as Shooter in Maryland Newspaper Mass Murder : The Other McCain
    June 29th, 2018 @ 9:17 am

    […] I went to sleep Thursday night, my post about the shooting at the offices of the Annapolis Capital had been updated six times, and the media had (incorrectly, as it turned out) reported that the […]