Breaking News Emails
Five people were killed Thursday afternoon after a gunman opened fire inside the offices of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper in the Maryland capital, Annapolis, police officials said. A suspect is in custody.
William Krampf, the acting police chief of Anne Arundel County, said at a news conference that several other people were "gravely injured." "The investigation has just started; it will take quite a while to determine what occurred and why it occurred," he said at a news conference.
Three senior law enforcement officials who were briefed on the shooting said the suspect in custody is a white man. They said it is believed that he used a shotgun. Police would not identify the gun used.
Phil Davis, a Gazette crime reporter who was in the office, recounted the shooting on Twitter.
"Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees," Davis said. "Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad."
"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," Davis said in another tweet.
Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Ryan Frashure said police were still talking to the suspect and a motive has not been determined.
Breaking News Emails
Shooting reported at Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland
Jun.28.201803:55The Baltimore Sun, which owns the Capital Gazette, said police had also been sent to its headquarters as a precaution. The Capital Gazette is one of the oldest publishers in the country, starting in 1727 with the Maryland Gazette.
Aerial video showed people leaving the building with their hands up and a heavy police presence.
President Donald Trump has been briefed about the shooting, the White House said. "My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Thank you to all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene," the president said on Twitter.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on Twitter that he was "absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis."
Police departments in New York City and Chicago said they were monitoring developments and would be checking in or deploying resources to media outlets.
The New York Police Department said it had deployed counterterrorism teams to media organizations around the city as a precaution.
"These deployments are not based on specific threat information, but rather out of an abundance of caution until we learn more about the suspect and motives behind the Maryland shooting," the NYPD said.
Noah Turner, an Annapolis resident, said he was nearby when the shooting occurred and saw two police SWAT vehicles and around 10 police cars heading to the scene. "It's crazy," Turner said.
"I've never seen so many police cars in my life," he said. "You would not ever think it would happen here."
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
CORRECTION (June 28, 5:20 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of a police lieutenant for Anne Arundel County. He is Ryan Frashure, not Frazier.