The alleged gunman who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper was investigated in May 2013 after threats were made against the paper, police said on Friday. Timothy Altomare, chief of Anne Arundel county police, said Jarrod Ramos was looked into over “online threatening comments” directed at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, but the newspaper management decided not to pursue criminal charges.

“There was a fear that doing so would exacerbate an already flammable situation,” Altomare said at a press conference. Ramos, 38, appeared by video at a county district court accused of murdering five people at the newspaper as part of a years-long feud that began when it reported on his harassment of a woman. He was held without bail.

Wes Adams, the county prosecutor, told the court Ramos barricaded a back entrance to the newspaper’s office before entering through the front door and shooting people as they tried to flee through the barricaded door.Speaking outside the court, Adams said this was “evidence that suggested a coordinated attack”. Police said evidence of planning for the shooting was found at Ramos’s apartment in the city of Laurel, about 25 miles from the newspaper office.(theguardian)…[+]