Reporter after newsroom shooting: ‘We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow’

A reporter for the The Capital newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, said the company will publish a newspaper as usual on Friday despite a shooting Thursday in the newsroom that left at least five people dead.

Chase Cook, a reporter covering the Maryland General Assembly for the newspaper, tweeted Thursday afternoon that he “can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow.”

Cook’s defiant tweet came just hours after police swarmed the downtown Annapolis newsroom for the Capital Gazette and arrested one suspect, identified only as a 39-year-old male, armed with a firearm and smoke grenades. A possible explosive device was also recovered and disposed of by police at the scene.

At least five people died and more were injured, according to Anne Arundel County officials, when a unidentified man attacked the newspaper Thursday afternoon using a “long gun,” according to police and witnesses.

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“The investigation has just started. So as [Frashure] has said, we’re going to be quite a while determining what occurred, how it occurred, and why it occurred,” Acting Anne Arundel County police chief William Krampf told reporters.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) wrote on Twitter that he was “absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis,” adding that he was in contact with officials responding to the situation. He later addressed residents and the media at a news conference.

President Trump in his own tweet thanked first responders and offered prayers for the victims.

“I was briefed on the shooting at Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Thank you to all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene,” he wrote.

This article was updated at 7:53 p.m.