On Thursday, Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, burst into the offices of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland and shot five employees dead.
This tragic situation began as a stalking case. Here are the details: In 2009, Ramos found a former high school classmate on Facebook. The woman didn’t remember Ramos, but Googled him, discovered they were, in fact, classmates, and she was cordial to him. Ramos escalated, began stalking her, and the woman finally pressed charges. Ramos pleaded guilty to criminal harassment and received 90-day suspended sentence and 18 months of probation.
The Capital Gazette published an article about the case on July 31, 2011. Ramos didn’t like the article, and filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper. The suit was dismissed, and Ramos appealed. The appeal was also dismissed.
The court’s opinion in the appeal includes an excellent summary of the case’s background. The document also includes the entire original newspaper article that made Ramos angry.
Jarrod W. Ramos v. Eric Thomas Hartley, et al.
This is another case where many people knew that there was something off about Jarrod Ramos, but nothing could be done.
- The victim warned a former police officer that, “He will be your next shooter.”
- Her attorney was concerned for the safety of himself and his family.
- The newspaper publisher was worried that Ramos would harm them. Years ago, employees were shown a photo of Ramos and told if they ever saw him to call 911.
- A woman who lived near Ramos said he was “oddly expressionless.”
There’s something wrong with Jarrod Ramos, but I’m not sure what it is. Even though he was a stalker and is now accused of being a murderer, he doesn’t fit the profile of a sociopath. I haven’t seen any reports that he was a liar, deceptive, manipulative or exploitative.
Unfortunately, human beings can have a wide range of problems. Some are truly frightening.
Accused gunman in Capital Gazette shooting left a trail of conflicts, on NYTimes.com.
What to know about the suspected Capital Gazette shooter, on Time.com.
Jarrod Ramos’ stalking victim says she tried to warn authorities Gapital Gazette suspect might become mass shooter, on NYDailyNews.com.
LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Since this experience, I’ve been afraid to love again
My layman’s guess is that Jarrod Ramos may have Borderline Personality Disorder with some other comorbidity. It is so frightening that a person could be so disturbed by another individual’s reporting matters of public record that he could resort to mass murder. But like other Cluster B disorders, people with BPD often see others as mere objects who either further or frustrate their own twisted agenda, and their attachment and abandonment issues can make them highly volatile. He was clearly lonely, desperate, and his ego was lethally fragile. I wish peace and comfort for all the families and friends of the victims at the Capital Gazette.
my cousin lives in annapolis. prayers for the people of annapolis.
There is a lot to be learned from this story.
First, learn the difference between KNOWING OF, as in recognizing, a person vs. KNOWING a person. Just because someone was a classmate, does not mean they are friendly. If you need to Google a person to check if they are a classmate, then you don’t know them!
Please read THE GIFT OF FEAR. Don’t stand around wondering what is wrong with a person, or what their diagnosis is, get safe, and then figure it out.
Listen to your gut, and other’s comments, especially when expressed as their sense of humor. This is discussed in the book.
The days of “being fair, polite, and giving someone the benefit of the doubt,” are over. Good people know and understand they need to prove themselves in today’s society.