Capital Gazette shooting suspect indicted on 23 counts
BALTIMORE – Anne Arundel County prosecutors filed a 23-count indictment Friday against Jarrod Ramos, the suspect in the deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom last month, they announced in a news release.
The indictment means Ramos, 38, is now charged with attempted murder, assault and weapons offenses in addition to five counts of first degree murder.
Ramos was taken into custody in the newsroom June 28, where police say they found him hiding under a desk after the shooting rampage. Police have said that he used a shotgun to blast his way into the newspaper’s offices before opening fire on the 11 people working inside.
The filing of an indictment is largely a procedural step that moves the case to Circuit Court, where Ramos would ultimately stand trial.
Ramos’ public defender, William Davis, declined to comment.
Ramos faces five first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Rob Hiaasen, 59, an assistant editor and columnist; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications; Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor; John McNamara, 56, a longtime sports writer; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant hired in November.
The indictment alleged that Ramos attempted to murder photographer Paul W. Gillespie. Gillespie said in an interview this week that he thinks Ramos shot at him as he fled the newsroom.
“When I ran, I didn’t look back, but I did hear him chase me,” Gillespie said. “I did hear a gunshot. I did feel a breeze blow past my right side.”
Ramos is also accused of assaulting Gillespie along with reporters Selene San-Felice, Phillip Davis and Rachael Pacella; sales consultant Janel Cooley; and intern Anthony Messenger, whose Twitter account carried the first public information that the shooting had taken place.
Ramos is charged with using a firearm in commission of a crime of violence against all 11 victims.
State’s attorney Wes Adams will personally prosecute the case, his office said, along with his assistants Jason Knight and Aaron L. Meyers.
The shooting three weeks ago shattered the normal routine at the Annapolis newspaper.
But since the killings, staff have continued to put out a print edition and online updates every day, drafting reporters from corporate parent tronc, which also owns the Baltimore Sun, as well as other news organizations.
Ramos had long nurtured a grudge against the Capital after it reported on him pleading guilty to harassing a former high school classmate in 2011. Ramos unsuccessfully sued the author of the article and the paper’s publisher for defamation and taunted its reporters and editors on Twitter.
The former classmate, who fled Maryland after Ramos’ harassment continued, obtained a series of peace orders against Ramos, but those orders and his guilty plea did not bar him from legally buying the shotgun that police say was used in the attack.