BALTIMORE _ A gunman blasted his way into the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md., with a shotgun Thursday afternoon, killing five people and injuring two others, authorities said.
Here's what we know:
THE VICTIMS
Rob Hiaasen, 59, a former feature writer for The Baltimore Sun who joined the Capital Gazette in 2010 as an assistant editor and columnist. He is remembered as a joyful stylist and a generous mentor.
Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications and was a prolific writer who chronicled her community.
Gerald Fischman, 61, the editorial page editor remembered as the clever, quirky voice of a community newspaper.
John McNamara, 56, a staff writer who had covered high school, college and professional sports for decades; sports reporting was his dream job.
Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant hired in November who had already proved herself a valuable asset.
Two other Capital Gazette staffers, Rachael Pacella, a reporter who covers education and the Naval Academy, and Janel Cooley, a sales representative who covers downtown Annapolis, were injured. Both were treated and released.
THE SUSPECT
Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, of Laurel was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, according to online court records. He did not have an attorney listed; a bail review hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday in Annapolis.
A gunman blasted his way into the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis with a shotgun Thursday afternoon, killing five people and injuring two others, authorities said.
THE ATTACK
The gunman shot his way through the glass doors of the Capital Gazette newsroom about 2:40 p.m. Thursday, officials said.
One reporter described the scene as a "war zone." A photographer said he jumped over a dead colleague and fled for his life. An intern tweeted the building's address and the words "please help us."
Officers responded to the scene within a minute of the rampage, authorities said. Employees hiding listened as the shooting stopped, and the suspect was arrested.
Five dead in 'targeted attack' at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, police say; Laurel man charged with murder
THE MOTIVE
The suspect held a long-standing grudge against the newspaper over a 2011 article that covered a criminal harassment charge brought against him, authorities said.
In 2012, Ramos filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper and a columnist. The suit worked its way through the Maryland courts until 2015, when the state's second-highest court upheld a ruling in favor of the newspaper.
"I remember telling our attorneys, 'This is a guy who is going to come in and shoot us,' " said Thomas Marquardt, the paper's former editor and publisher, who was named as one of the defendants.
THE RESPONSE
Grieving colleagues immediately began covering the story _ some of them upon escaping the building. The Capital put out a newspaper the next day. "I don't know what else to do except this," reporter Chase Cook said, the grief showing in his eyes.
A Washington journalist started a GoFundMe online fundraiser, aiming to raise $70,000 for the shooting victims. The donations have since surpassed that mark, and a new goal has been set for $100,000. "I can't stop shaking because I can't stop thinking about how this could be any one of us," said the journalist, Madi Alexander, a data reporter for Bloomberg Government.
Heartbroken colleagues will pay tribute to the victims by continuing to deliver the news, said Trif Alatzas, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which includes The Capital Gazette.
Gov. Larry Hogan ordered the flag lowered to half-staff Friday.
