Maryland (US): In a shocking incident, at least five people were killed as a gunman opened fire at a local newspaper office in Maryland in the United States injuring others in what police said was a ‘targeted attack’.
According to initial reports, 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.
Police revealed that a white male suspect in his late 30s was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting and was being questioned.
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“This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette,” said William Krampf, deputy chief of Anne Arundel County Police was quoted in a report.
He added that the gunman “entered the building with a shotgun and looked for his victims as he walked through the lower level”.
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