Capital Gazette Md. Shooting Suspect's Anger, Silence, Then Explosion; Life, Background
"Maryland Newspaper Shooting Suspect's Anger Flared and Fell Silent. Then It Exploded, Police Say," Baltimore Sun, July 8, 2018. -EXCERPTS:
For half a decade, Jarrod Ramos' anger poured out in court papers, Twitter posts and email messages. He saw enemies. He wrote that he'd like to kill one of them. He suggested that another kill herself. He created online images marking others out for sacrifice. Then, in 2016, it all stopped –– until late last month, police say, when his anger exploded in shotgun blasts in the Annapolis, Md., newsroom of The Capital. A final court filing, dated the day of the deadly attack and bearing Ramos' name, provided a haunting coda: "I told you so."
The sudden outburst of violence on June 28 has left victims of Ramos' harassment and threats asking: Why now? "That's the mystery for all of us," Thomas Marquardt said. Marquardt was editor and publisher of The Capital in 2011 when a columnist wrote about a months-long campaign of harassment Ramos carried out online against a former high school classmate. Ramos, 38, pleaded guilty to harassment, but continued to pursue the woman - and the newspaper - in the courts and on social media.
Ramos is now charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Capital staff members 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 court papers Ramos wrote, other records and interviews suggest an intelligent but isolated man who was willing to pursue a vendetta for years. Brennan McCarthy, the attorney for Ramos' initial harassment victim, said he "was completely malevolent." Neither Ramos' parents, who divorced in 2003, nor his sister responded to requests for comment. Other relatives said they had not had contact with him for several years. William Davis, Ramos' public defender, declined to comment. Anne Arundel County police say Ramos has declined to be interviewed by detectives.
Ramos was born in Silver Spring, Md., he wrote on one job application, and grew up in Anne Arundel County...A classmate who shared a copy of the class yearbook with an inscription signed "Jarrod." "You know it and I know it - this class, this school, this whole damn place is full of s - -," it read...Jenny Johnson, who was a year ahead of Ramos, remembers a socially isolated student who was rude to girls...Johnson said Ramos participated frequently in the one class they shared, but was arrogant. She said he had a low voice and wore a black trenchcoat. Johnson recalls other students making fun of Ramos' glasses. Once, she said, someone threw chewing gum into his long hair. "People treated him like dirt," Johnson said. The high school classmate who was harassed by Ramos wrote in court papers that he contacted her in 2009. She wrote that she didn't remember him. She wrote that he thanked her "for being the only person that was ever nice, or said hello to him high school." Ramos disputed that in a court filing, saying he told the woman she used to throw food at him.
While in high school, Ramos landed an internship with the National Security Agency, a spokesman for the spy agency confirmed. The position, which typically runs for a year, would have required him to obtain a top-secret security clearance, NSA spokesman Christopher Augustine said. Court documents show Ramos was hired as recently as 2013 to a government contracting job that required a clearance.
In 1997, Ramos enrolled at what was then called Capitol College, a small school in Laurel focused on information technology. He graduated in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering...Ramos began working at the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2007. He held IT contracting jobs for the federal agency until 2014, according to court records. For at least some of that period Ramos worked a night shift. In a 2012 court filing, Ramos said he "protects the health and security of network resources and information assets."
In 2004, Ramos moved to his current address - a basement apartment next to a laundry room in a small building in Laurel. Neighbors said they rarely saw him come and go, and that he never had visitors. "He was like a mole," said John Cusumano, who lives on the top floor...Cusumano said he did hear Ramos. "I know he played video games because you always heard them," he said. "He played war games and stuff, because you could hear the shooting."...Much More..
MORE, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/maryland-newspaper-shooting-suspects-anger-flared-and-fell-silent-then-it-exploded-police-say/ar-AAzKIfk
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