Police say gunman in Maryland newsroom shooting is 'white', 'adult male'

 

ANNAPOLIS: The person suspected of killing at least five people at a newspaper in the US state of Maryland is an adult white male, a police spokesperson said.

Lieutenant Ryan Frashure told journalists that the suspect, now in custody, is "a white male, adult male, and the gun that was used is described as a long gun" — meaning a rifle or a shotgun.

It is estimated that three people were wounded in the shooting, Frashure said.

As per CBS News, which quoted a law enforcement source, the gunman "is refusing to identify himself. The suspect damaged his fingertips in an effort to avoid identification".

"A senior federal law enforcement source says the suspect was also carrying fake grenades. Smoke bombs and flash bang devices were found in his backpack, a source said," CBS added.

Authorities, therefore, are employing alternative methods of identification, such as "facial recognition technology to search databases of passports and driver's licenses", to figure out who the shooter, said to have long hair, really is.

At least five dead, over 20 wounded in Maryland newsroom shooting

Local political leaders said no motive was known for the attack at the Capital Gazette newspaper

The shooting took place inside the offices of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper in the historic city of Annapolis, an hour east of Washington.

A reporter for the daily, Phil Davis, tweeted that a "gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees."

Mass shootings are a common occurrence in the US.

While advocates of tougher gun laws have stepped up their efforts in the wake of school shootings this year, including the killing of 17 people at a Parkland, Florida high school in February and the killing of 10 people at a Texas high school in May, the results have been relatively modest so far.