ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The victims of Thursday’s mass shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis were remembered at a vigil Friday. The event took place not far from where the suspect, Jarrod Ramos, was charged earlier in the day with five counts of first-degree murder.
He appeared in court by video link from the nearby county jail where he is on suicide watch. He did not utter a word and showed little, if any, emotion.
The judge ordered him to be held without bond after Wes Adams, the Anne Arundel County state’s attorney, alleged that before Ramos opened fire he turned the Capital Gazette newspaper offices into a deadly trap.
Emergency personnel congregate outside the Capital-Gazette newspaper building on June 28, 2018 in Annapolis, Maryland.
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“The rear door was barricaded. Mr. Ramos then, as I told the judge, entered into the front door and worked his way through the office where he was shooting victims as he walked through the offices,” Adams said.
Ramos is accused of using a pump action shotgun, that police say he bought legally about a year ago. The carnage could have been much worse if police had not arrived and cornered him in less than two minutes. They found Ramos hiding under a table, thwarting what police say had been his plan to escape.
“He was as angry an individual as I have ever seen,” said Brennan McCarthy, the lawyer who represented a woman who was harassed and stalked by Ramos for years.
McCarthy said the moment he heard about the shooting, he knew it was Ramos.
“It was inevitable,” McCarthy said. “He was going to do something violent. The only question was, who would he get first.”
New details emerged Friday about the victims. Gerald Fischman was the editorial page editor. Co-workers described him as quirky and smart, making sure everything was “just right.”
John McNamara was a sports writer and copy editor who could talk fluently about everything from politics to literature.
Wendi Winters, the special publications editor, was a mother of four and mentor to young journalists. She was called the heart of the newspaper, because she cared so much about serving the city.
Rebecca Smith was a sales assistant who was engaged to be married. Friends and co-workers called her kind and considerate, with a big heart.
Robert Hiaasen was described as a gifted editor with the aura of an artist, inspiring colleagues to make journalism a beautiful craft.
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