Shooting Reported at Maryland Newspaper Office, Multiple People Shot

A gunman fired through a glass door at a newspaper in the Maryland capital of Annapolis and sprayed the newsroom with bullets on Thursday, killing at least four people and injuring several others, news reports said.

A senior law enforcement official told CBS Baltimore that four people were killed in the shooting, and they have a suspect in custody. The local sheriff’s office said that five died.

The suspect has been apprehended and no motive is known for the attack at the Capital Gazette newspaper, local news reports said.

The number of victims has not yet been confirmed.

For now, the Annapolis shooting is being treated as a local incident and not one that involves terrorism, a law enforcement official said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the scene assisting local authorities, the official said, Reuters reported.

Phil Davis, a crime reporter at the Capital Gazette, wrote on Twitter that multiple people had been shot.

Davis said a shooter “shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead.”

“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” he tweeted.

The Baltimore Sun, which oversees the newspaper, tweeted at about 3 p.m.: “We are investigating reports of an incident at the Capital-Gazette building in the 800 block of Bestgate Road in Annapolis. We will share details as we confirm them.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he was devastated to hear the news.

“Please, heed all warnings and stay away from the area,” Hogan tweeted. “Praying for those at the scene and for our community.”

Lt. Ryan Frashure, spokesman for Anne Arundel County police, told WJLA that officers are “doing everything to get people out safe.”

“One of the main messages we want to give the public is avoid the area. We have a lot of police officers here from our jurisdiction,” said Frashure to CBS Baltimore. “Everyone has came here to make sure we get as many people safe as quickly as possible. So we’re asking family and friends to meet at the Annapolis Mall. If you need to meet up with a friend or a loved one who was inside that building, our reunification center has been set up inside the Lord & Taylor inside Annapolis Mall.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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