Capital Gazette staff members stayed silent and somberly exchanged hugs when the Maryland newspaper won a special Pulitzer Prize citation for its coverage and courage in the face of a massacre in its newsroom.

Before the announcement, newspaper employees gathered in their newsroom to remember the five staff members who were shot and killed last June in one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in US history.

“Since it’s so connected to something so tragic, there was no euphoric pop-off of excitement.”

The Capital Gazette, based in the Maryland state capital of Annapolis, published on schedule the day after the shooting attack. The man charged in the attack had a longstanding grudge against the newspaper.

Capital Gazette editor Rick Hutzell said the paper had submitted entries in five categories, including a joint entry with The Baltimore Sun for breaking news.

Although the Capital Gazette did not win in any of the five categories, the Pulitzer board awarded the citation with an extraordinary 100,000-dollar grant to further its journalism.

The Pulitzer board said the citation honours the journalists, staff and editorial board of the newspaper “for their courageous response to the largest killing of journalists in US history in their newsroom” and for an “unflagging commitment to covering the news and serving their community at a time of unspeakable grief”.

Mr Hutzell said he thought the Pulitzer board handled its decision admirably.

“Clearly, there were a lot of mixed feelings,” Mr Hutzell said. “No one wants to win an award for something that kills five of your friends.”

He also said the paper was aware it would be facing stiff competition.

“It’s very difficult when you are reporting in some ways on yourself,” he said. “That’s not what we do. We’re behind the camera, not in front of it.”

Employees John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith, Gerald Fischman and Rob Hiaasen were killed in the attack last June 28.

The shooting did not stop other workers from covering it and putting out a newspaper the next day, with assistance from colleagues at The Baltimore Sun, which is owned by the same company.

Joshua McKerrow, a photographer for the newspaper, said the staff remained “stone silent” for about a minute after learning about the citation.

Capital Gazette reporter Rachael Pacella said the citation provided a “big sense of validation for the staff”.

“It’s been a challenge returning to work,” she said. “It lets you know that the additional stress you’ve endured going back to work has been worth it and appreciated.”

Features reporter Selene San Felice said she had to compose herself in a bathroom before the prizes were announced.

She initially was not sure how to react to the special citation.

“At first, I thought that meant they just feel bad for us. And that’s not true, because there are a lot of people you can feel bad for right now. We’ve really earned this,” she said.

Jarrod Ramos, the man charged in the newsroom shooting, had a history of harassing the newspaper’s journalists. He filed a lawsuit against the paper in 2012, alleging he was defamed in an article about his conviction in a criminal harassment case in 2011. The suit was dismissed as groundless.

Ramos’s trial is scheduled to start in November. He pleaded not guilty last year to first-degree murder charges. April 29 is the deadline for lawyers to change his plea to not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. </s> A US local newspaper has won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of a mass shooting in its own newsroom.

But there was no celebration as in learned on Monday it had won the most prestigious prize in American journalism, the reported.

The staff quietly hugged in memory of five colleagues slain when a gunman burst into their office in June 2018.

Pulitzers also went to and for investigations of US

in Annapolis won a special Pulitzer Prize citation for its coverage and courage in the face of one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in American history.

The Pulitzer board awarded the citation with a $100,000 grant to further the newspaper's journalism.

Employees John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith, and died in last summer's attack.

But the staff still managed to publish a newspaper on schedule the next day.

A man with a longstanding grudge against is charged with the attack. He pleaded not guilty last year.

Coverage of mass shootings netted Pulitzers for two other local newspapers.

received a breaking news award for its "immersive, compassionate" reporting of last October's attack at a synagogue that left 11 people dead.

And the Sun Sentinel won a Pulitzer for its reporting on the February 2018 mass shooting at that left 17 dead.

It received the public service award for "exposing failings by school and law enforcement officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage".

won a prize for explanatory reporting of Trump's finances and tax avoidance and another for editorial writing.

won the national reporting prize for uncovering the president's secret payoffs to two alleged former mistresses during his campaign.

also won two Pulitzers for photojournalism in and for criticism. </s> Pulitzers Awarded to Newsrooms for Coverage of 3 Mass Shootings

NEW YORK—The South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday and were recognized along with the Capital Gazette of Maryland for their coverage of the horrifying mass shootings in 2018 at a high school, a synagogue and a newsroom itself.

The Associated Press won in the international reporting category for documenting the humanitarian horrors of Yemen’s civil war, while The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were honored for delving into President Donald Trump’s finances and breaking open the hush-money scandals involving two women who said they had affairs with him.

The Florida paper received the Pulitzer in public service for its coverage of the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and for detailing the shortcomings in school discipline and security that contributed to the carnage.

The Post-Gazette was honored in the breaking news category for its reporting on the synagogue rampage that left 11 people dead. The man awaiting trial in the attack railed against Jews before, during and after the massacre, authorities said.

After the Pulitzer announcement, the newsroom in Pittsburgh observed a moment of silence for the victims. At the Sun Sentinel, too, the staff took in the award in a sober spirit.

“We’re mindful of what it is that we won for,” Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson said. “There are still families grieving, so it’s not joy, it’s almost … I don’t know how to describe it. We’re emotional, as well.”

So, too, at the Capital Gazette, which was given a special citation for its coverage and courage in the face of a massacre in its own newsroom. The Pulitzer board also gave the paper an extraordinary $100,000 grant to further its journalism.

“Clearly, there were a lot of mixed feelings,” editor Rick Hutzell said. “No one wants to win an award for something that kills five of your friends.”

The Annapolis-based newspaper published on schedule, with some help from The Baltimore Sun, the day after five staffers were shot and killed in one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history. The man charged had a longstanding grudge against the paper.

The Pulitzers, U.S. journalism’s highest honor, reflected a year when journalism also came under attack in other ways.

Reuters won an international reporting award for work that cost two of its staffers their liberty: coverage of a brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims by security forces in Myanmar.

Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act. Their supporters say the two were arrested in retaliation for their reporting.

Reuters also won the breaking news photography award for images of Central American migrants heading to the U.S.

The AP’s international reporting prize went to a team of journalists who documented atrocities and suffering in Yemen, illuminating the human toll of its 4-year-old civil war.

As a result of the work by reporter Maggie Michael, photographer Nariman El-Mofty and video journalist Maad al-Zikry, at least 80 prisoners were released from secret detention sites, and the United Nations rushed food and medicine to areas where the AP revealed that people were starving while corrupt officials diverted international food aid.

“This is a story that everybody was not really paying good attention, and we’re very happy to be able to draw some attention to it,” Michael said.

Images of the famine in Yemen also brought a feature photography award for The Washington Post. The Post’s book critic, Carlos Lozada, won the criticism prize for what the judges called “trenchant and searching” work.

In the U.S., journalists have been contending with attacks on the media’s integrity from the president on down. Trump has branded coverage of his administration “fake news” and assailed the media as the “enemy of the people.”

Monday’s wins by the Times and The Wall Street Journal and freelance cartoonist Darrin Bell may further anger the president.

The Times won the explanatory reporting Pulitzer for laying out how a president who has portrayed himself as a largely self-made man has, in fact, received over $400 million in family money and helped his family avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Trump has called the Times expose a false “hit piece.”

The Journal took the national reporting award for its investigations of payments orchestrated by the president’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels and a Playboy centerfold. Trump has denied having affairs with them.

Bell, the editorial cartooning winner, called out “lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration,” the Pulitzer judges said.

The Los Angeles Times took the investigative reporting prize for stories that revealed hundreds of sexual abuse accusations against a recently retired University of Southern California gynecologist, who has denied the allegations. The university recently agreed to a $215 million settlement with the alleged victims.

The local reporting prize went to The Advocate of Louisiana for work that led to a state constitutional amendment abolishing Louisiana’s unusual practice of allowing non-unanimous jury verdicts in felony trials.

ProPublica won the feature reporting award for coverage of Salvadoran immigrants affected by a federal crackdown on the MS-13 gang.

Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch received the commentary award for his series of columns about poor people being thrown back in jail in Missouri because they couldn’t afford to pay the costs of a previous stint behind bars.

The New York Times’ Brent Staples received the editorial writing award. The judges said his writing about the nation’s racial history showed “extraordinary moral clarity.”

The journalism prizes, first awarded in 1917, were established by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Winners of the public service award receive a gold medal. The other awards carry a prize of $15,000 each.

Contributing were Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela in New York; Kelli Kennedy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans; and Michael Kunzelman in Annapolis, Maryland. </s> Image copyright EPA

A US local newspaper has won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of a mass shooting in its own newsroom.

But there was no celebration as the Capital Gazette in Maryland learned on Monday it had won the most prestigious prize in American journalism.

Staff quietly hugged in memory of five colleagues killed by a gunman who burst into their office in June 2018.

Pulitzers also went to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for investigations into President Trump.

Two journalists jailed in Myanmar for reporting a massacre of Rohingya Muslims were part of a team from Reuters news agency that also won an award.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced last year to seven years in prison for breaking the Official Secrets Act, despite an international outcry over what was widely seen as an attack on media freedom.

Reuters has said it will not be celebrating the prize until their two colleagues are released.

The Capital Gazette in Annapolis won a special Pulitzer Prize citation for its coverage and courage in the face of one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in American history.

The Pulitzer board awarded the citation with a $100,000 (£76,400) grant to further the newspaper's journalism.

Employees John McNamara, Wendi Winters, Rebecca Smith, Gerald Fischman and Rob Hiaasen died in last summer's attack.

But the staff still managed to publish a newspaper on schedule the next day.

A man with a longstanding grudge against the Capital Gazette is charged with the attack. He pleaded not guilty last year.

Coverage of mass shootings netted Pulitzers for two other local newspapers.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette received a breaking news award for its "immersive, compassionate" reporting of last October's attack at a Pennsylvania synagogue that left 11 people dead.

And the South Florida Sun Sentinel won a Pulitzer for its reporting on the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead.

It received the public service award for "exposing failings by school and law enforcement officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage".

The New York Times won a prize for explanatory reporting of Mr Trump's finances and tax avoidance and another for editorial writing.

The Wall Street Journal won the national reporting prize for uncovering the president's secret payoffs to two alleged former mistresses during his campaign.

The Washington Post also won two Pulitzers for photojournalism in Yemen and for criticism, covering book reviews and essays. </s> Police respond to a shooting in Annapolis, Maryland, on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Several people were killed Thursday in a shooting at the building that houses the Capital Gazette, a daily newspaper published in Annapolis, a historic city an hour east of Washington.

At least five people were killed and two were injured when a gunman opened fire in a Maryland newsroom Thursday in what police are calling a "targeted attack" on the newspaper.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said the suspect, identified as Jarrod W. Ramos, had put his weapon down and was hiding in the building under a desk when police found him at the Capital Gazette building in Annapolis.

Anne Arundel police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said officers arrived on the scene within 60 seconds of initial reports.

"This person was prepared to shoot people. His intent was to cause harm," William Krampf, acting police chief Anne Arundel County, said at a news conference.

Thursday afternoon, a gunman armed with a gun and smoke grenades, shot through the glass door to the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland, and opened fire on multiple employees. Employees dove under desks to avoid flying bullets. It "was like a ware zone," Phil Davis, a Capital crime reporter who was in the building at the time of the shooting, told The Baltimore Sun.

Authorities said police responded to the scene within a minute of the shooting. Police found the suspect hiding under a desk. About 170 people were evacuated from the site.

The Capital Gazette is owned by The Baltimore Sun. Its offices house two newspapers, one of which is the oldest in the country.

Jarrod W. Ramos, who is in custody, is accused of opening fire at the Capital Gazette. Court documents show Ramos, 38, filed a defamation suit against the newspaper in 2012, but a judge threw out the lawsuit, saying Ramos "fails to come close to alleging a case of defamation." A Maryland appeals court upheld the ruling.

The case referenced a Capital story by staff writer Eric Thomas Hartley under the headline "Jarrod wants to be your friend." The story described a harrowing situation of a woman who was continually harassed by Ramos after he contacted her on Facebook.

A review of Ramos' tweets to Hartley reveal that Ramos was angry about how the criminal case — and the press coverage of it — was handled. USA TODAY compiled approximately 880 tweets that Ramos made to Hartley's Twitter feed between 2011 and today.

Journalist Rob Hiaasen was among the five victims of Thursday's deadly attack. Hiaasen, 59, was the assistant editor and a columnist for the Capital Gazette, according to the paper's website. Special publications editor Wendi Winters, writer John McNamara, editorial page editor Gerald Fischman and sales assistant Rebecca Smith also died.

Two others were injured.

More: 5 killed in ‘targeted attack’ on Capital Gazette newspaper, police say

More: Newsrooms across the country upping security after shooting at Capital Gazette </s> Pulitzers honor coverage of 3 US mass shootings in 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — The South Florida Sun Sentinel and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won Pulitzer Prizes on Monday and were recognized along with the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Maryland, for their coverage of three horrifying mass shootings in 2018 at a high school, a synagogue and a newsroom itself.

The Associated Press won in the international reporting category for documenting the humanitarian horrors of Yemen's civil war, while The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal received Pulitzers for delving into President Donald Trump's finances and breaking open the hush-money scandals involving two women who said they had affairs with him.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel won the Pulitzer in public service for its coverage of the massacre that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and for detailing the shortcomings in school discipline and security that contributed to the carnage.

The Post-Gazette received the prize in the breaking news category for its reporting on the synagogue shooting rampage that left 11 people dead. The man awaiting trial in the attack railed against Jews before, during and after the massacre, authorities said.

After the Pulitzer announcement, the newsroom observed a moment of silence for the victims.

"We are not so much celebrating as affirming ... the job we were put on this earth to do," David Schribman, the now-retired executive editor who led the coverage, told the newsroom.

The Capital Gazette was given a special citation for its coverage and courage in the face of a massacre in its own newsroom. The newspaper published on schedule the day after the shooting claimed five staffers' lives, in one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history.

The man charged in the shooting had a longstanding grudge against the paper. The Pulitzer board awarded Capital Gazette an extraordinary $100,000 grant to further its journalism.

The Pulitzers, U.S. journalism's highest honor, reflected a year when journalism increasingly came under attack in other ways.

Reuters won an international reporting award for work that cost two of its staffers their liberty: shedding light on a brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims by security forces in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of violating the country's Official Secrets Act. Their supporters say the two were framed in retaliation for their reporting.

The AP's international reporting prize went to a team of journalists who spent a year documenting atrocities and suffering in Yemen, illuminating the human toll of its four-year-old civil war.

As a result of the work by reporter Maggie Michael, photographer Nariman El-Mofty and video journalist Maad al-Zikry, at least 80 prisoners were released from secret detention sites, and the United Nations rushed food and medicine to areas where the AP revealed that people were starving while corrupt officials diverted international food aid.

Staffers broke out into applause at the AP's headquarters in New York, as Michael and al-Zikry watched via video screens from various locales.

"This is a story that everybody was not really paying good attention, and we're very happy to be able to draw some attention to it," Michael said.

In the U.S., journalists have been contending with attacks on the media's integrity from the president on down. Trump has branded coverage of his administration "fake news" and assailed the media as the "enemy of the people."

Monday's wins by the Times and The Wall Street Journal may provoke further ire from the president, who recently suggested the Times and The Washington Post should be stripped of the Pulitzers they won last year for coverage of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Attorney General William Barr announced last month that special counsel Robert Mueller's nearly two-year investigation found no evidence that Trump or his campaign colluded with Moscow to sway the vote.

This year, the Times was recognized for laying out how a president who has portrayed himself as a largely self-made man has, in fact, received over $400 million in family money and helped his family avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.

Trump, who has broken with presidential precedent by refusing to release his income tax returns, has called the Times expose a false "hit piece."

The Journal revealed last year that then-candidate Trump's personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen had paid $130,000 in the run-up to his 2016 election to silence porn star Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump.

Federal prosecutors have said Trump directed Cohen to make the payments to quash a potential campaign-season sex scandal. Trump has said the payments were a private matter unrelated to his presidential bid.

Earlier, the Journal disclosed that the National Enquirer's parent company reached a $150,000 deal to pay former Playboy centerfold Karen McDougal for her story of an affair with Trump. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.

The Los Angeles Times took the investigative reporting prize for stories that revealed hundreds of sexual abuse accusations against a recently retired University of Southern California gynecologist. The university recently agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit by paying $215 million to potentially thousands of female students and alumni examined by Tyndall, who has denied the allegations and has not been charged with any crime.

The local reporting prize went to The Advocate of Louisiana for work that led to a state constitutional amendment abolishing Louisiana's unusual practice of allowing non-unanimous jury verdicts in felony trials. The split-verdict rule was blamed for contributing to racial disparities in a state where black people make up about one-third of the population but two-thirds of prisoners.

ProPublica won the feature reporting award for what the judges described as "powerful, intimate narratives" about Salvadoran immigrants affected by a federal crackdown on the MS-13 gang.

The prizes were established by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. The first journalism prizes were awarded in 1917. Winners of the public service award receive a gold medal. The other awards carry a prize of $15,000 each. </s> ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Multiple people have been shot at a daily newspaper in Maryland, according to multiple news sources.
• Staff at paper reporting that multiple people have been shot
• Maryland governor: 'Praying for those at the scene'

The website of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis said a crime reporter said there was a shooter in the building and that several had been shot.

"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," Phil Davis wrote on Twitter, the Capital Gazette reported.

A law enforcement official said the shooting happened in the paper's newsroom and that one person was in custody, CNN reports.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have reported to a "shooting incident" at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, they said.

The Capital Gazette said police were also at the Baltimore Sun newsroom. Both papers are owned by media publisher Tronc Inc., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel and the New York Daily News.

Anne Arundel Police in a tweet confirmed they were investigating an active shooter and that a building at 888 Bestgate Road in Annapolis had been evacuated. Authorities have set up a meetup point at a nearby mall.

I'm "absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a tweet. "Praying for those at the scene and for our community."

Check back for updates on the developing story. </s> A man armed with smoke grenades and a shotgun attacked journalists in the building Thursday, killing several people

Maryland police officers patrol the area after multiple people were shot at at The Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Md., Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

First-degree murder charges were filed Friday against a man with a grudge against Maryland’s capital newspaper after police said he shot his way into the newsroom, killing four journalists and a staffer and wounding two others.

Jarrod Warren Ramos was swiftly arrested, interrogated and jailed pending a 10:30 a.m. hearing in Annapolis. No defence attorney was listed in online court records, but one note suggests he could be represented by a public defender. Another classifies him as “recalcitrant.” Investigators said earlier that he was unco-operative.

Acting Police Chief William Krampf of Anne Arundel County said the gunman “looked for his victims” Thursday in the newsroom of The Capital Gazette in Annapolis. “This person was prepared today to come in, this person was prepared to shoot people,” Krampf said.

Ramos, 38, has a well-documented history of harassing the paper’s journalists that began years ago after the Gazette reported about his criminal conviction in a harassment case.

The attack began with a shotgun blast that shattered the glass entrance of the open newsroom. Journalists crawled under desks and sought other hiding places, describing agonizing minutes of terror as they heard his footsteps and the repeated blasts of the weapons. Police said he also was armed with smoke grenades.

It’s unclear what immediate motivation the gunman may have had. Investigators were reviewing his social media postings and searching his apartment in Laurel, Maryland, searching for clues.

“The shooter has not been very forthcoming, so we don’t have any information yet on motive,” Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh said.

Those killed included Rob Hiaasen, 59, the paper’s assistant managing editor and brother of novelist Carl Hiaasen. Carl Hiaasen said he was “devastated and heartsick” at losing his brother, “one of the most gentle and funny people I’ve ever known.” Also slain were Gerald Fischman, editorial page editor; features reporter Wendi Winters; reporter John McNamara, and sales assistant Rebecca Smith. The newspaper said two other employees had non-life threatening injuries and were later released from a hospital.

“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” tweeted Phil Davis, the paper’s courts and crime reporter. In a later interview appearing on the paper’s online site, Davis likened the newspaper office to a “war zone.”

“I’m a police reporter. I write about this stuff — not necessarily to this extent, but shootings and death — all the time,” he said. “But as much as I’m going to try to articulate how traumatizing it is to be hiding under your desk, you don’t know until you’re there and you feel helpless.”

In this frame from video, people leave the Capital Gazette newspaper after multiple people have been shot on Thursday, June 28, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. (WJLA via AP)

Reporter Selene San Felice told CNN she was at her desk but ran after hearing shots, only to find a back door locked. She then watched as a colleague was shot, adding she didn’t glimpse the gunman.

“I was breathing really loud and was trying not to, but I couldn’t be quiet,” she said. “I’m going to need more than ‘thoughts and prayers.’”

The reporter recalled a June 2016 mass shooting attack on Orlando’s gay nightclub Pulse and how terrified people crouching inside had texted loved ones as dozens were killed. Said San Felice, “And there I was sitting under a desk, texting my parents and telling them I loved them.”

Police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said officers arrived within about 60 seconds and took the gunman into custody without an exchange of gunfire. About 170 people were then evacuated from the building, which houses other offices, many leaving with their hands up as police and other emergency vehicles arrived.

The attack came amid months of verbal and online attacks on the “fake news media” from politicians and others from President Donald Trump on down. It prompted New York City police to immediately tighten security at news organizations in the nation’s media capital.

At the White House, spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said: “There is no room for violence, and we stick by that. Violence is never tolerated in any form, no matter whom it is against.”

The president tweeted: “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Thank you to all of the First Responders.”

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders added in a tweet: “Strongly condemn the evil act of senseless violence in Annapolis, MD. A violent attack on innocent journalists doing their job is an attack on every American. Our prayers are with the victims and their friends and families.”

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said the community is grieving.

“These are the guys that come to city council meetings, have to listen to boring politicians and sit there,” Buckley said. “They don’t make a lot of money. It’s just immoral that their lives should be in danger.”

The newspaper is part of Capital Gazette Communications, which also publishes the Maryland Gazette and CapitalGazette.com. It is owned by The Baltimore Sun.

The Associated Press Media Editors promised to help Capital Gazette journalists as they recover. An APME statement called on newspapers nationwide to help the paper continue its community coverage and fight for freedom of the press.

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Police describe how the shooting at the newspaper office ended

A gunman has opened fire at a local newspaper office in Maryland, killing five people and injuring others in what police said was a "targeted attack".

Staff at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis said the attacker, armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades, shot through a glass door into the newsroom.

US media have named a suspect held by police as Jarrod Ramos. He is reported to have unsuccessfully sued the newspaper group in 2012 for defamation.

Police have not confirmed a motive.

They said a white male suspect in his late 30s was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting and was being questioned.

Investigators were said to be looking into "violent" threats that had been made against the Capital Gazette via social media.

"This was a targeted attack on the Capital Gazette," said William Krampf, deputy chief of Anne Arundel County Police. He added that the gunman "entered the building with a shotgun and looked for his victims as he walked through the lower level".

County executive Steve Schuh told CNN that the suspect was hiding under a desk in the building when police officers arrived "within 60 seconds" of receiving news of the incident. He said there was "no exchange of fire".

The Capital Gazette publishes several local newspapers, including a daily called The Capital, which has a history dating back to 1884. It is owned by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.

The Baltimore Sun reported that police gathered outside Mr Ramos' house on Thursday after the attack. It said the alleged suspect has a "long-running feud" with The Capital over a 2011 report on a criminal harassment case against him.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Armed officers escorted more than 170 people from the building in Annapolis

The victims have been identified by police. They are:

Wendi Winters, 65, reporter

Rebecca Smith, 34, sales assistant

Robert Hiaasen, 59, editor

Gerald Fischman, 61, editorial writer

John McNamara, 56, reporter and editor

Author and Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen paid tribute to his brother, who was killed in the shooting, calling him "one of the most gentle and funny people I've ever known".

Speaking to reporters, Mr Krampf said an item "we believed to be an explosive device" had been found at the premises and destroyed. He said it turned out to be a smoke bomb.

He added that more than 170 people had been escorted safely from the building, which houses other businesses.

'War zone'

Staff at the Capital Gazette's titles were left reeling from the shooting, but vowed to put out an edition on Friday.

"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," tweeted reporter Phil Davis.

Mr Davis described the shooting at the newspaper's office in Annapolis, just east of Washington DC, as being "like a war zone".

He said that people were still hiding under their desks when the gunman stopped shooting. "I don't know why. I don't know why he stopped," he told the Baltimore Sun.

Chase Cook, a reporter, tweeted: "I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow."

Image copyright AFP Image caption Capital Gazette reporters were pictured working on the next day's newspaper from the car park

President Donald Trump was briefed on the attack. He tweeted that his "thoughts and prayers" were with the victims and their families.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders later condemned the attack on "innocent journalists doing their job".

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said it had deployed counterterrorism teams to media organisations in and around New York City as a precaution.

Read more about US gun violence

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption After the Las Vegas attack in October 2017 the BBC looked at how US mass shootings are getting worse

Another staff member at the Capital Gazette, Selene San Felice, told CNN that her first reaction to the shooting was to lie down under her desk, adding that she attempted to exit through a rear door but it was locked.

Reporter Danielle Ohl said the newsroom was quite small, with "about 20 news staffers" and several advertising staff. "We are close. We are family. I am devastated," she said.

Jimmy DeButts, the editor at the Capital Gazette, tweeted that he was "heartbroken" following the incident.

Federal agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, were involved in the response to the attack.

Maryland governor Larry Hogan said on Twitter he was "absolutely devastated" and was in contact with authorities.

Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen responded to Mr Davis on Twitter, saying "journalists shouldn't have to fend off bullets in the newsroom".
Annapolis, Maryland daily newspaper The Capital is awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of a mass shooting inside its own offices on June 28, 2018, that left five of its employees dead.