Maryland jury finds gunman in Capital Gazette shooting criminally responsible and rejects his mental illness argument

A jury in Maryland on Thursday found that the man who killed five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper is criminally responsible for the attack, rejecting his plea of insanity.

Jarrod Ramos walked into the Capital Gazette offices in June 2018 and opened fire, killing five staffers. Two others were injured. He had already pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible in October 2019 to 23 counts, including murder, setting up the trial where a jury would be asked to determine his mental state at the time of the shooting. In Maryland, the law allows for separate proceedings within a trial to determine guilt and mental competency if a defendant is using an insanity defense. The mental competency phase is where criminal responsibility is argued.