Deadline looms for Capital Gazette shooter to consider insanity plea

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The man accused of killing five people in a shooting at Annapolis, Maryland’s Capital Gazette has until Monday afternoon to consider an insanity plea.

Jarrod Ramos, 38, of Laurel, Maryalnd has until 4:30 p.m. Monday to decide whether he will change his plea from not guilty to not criminally responsible due to mental illness. A judge had extended the deadline on Jan. 22.

It would be up to Ramos’ lawyers to prove a mental illness drove him to commit violence. W. Lawrence Fitch, a professor of mental health at the University of Maryland, said that would be difficult.

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“There’s studies that show about 16% of folks in jail have a serious mental illness, but only a fraction — about one in a thousand — are found not criminally responsible,” Fitch said.

“Mental illness, generally, is not a risk factor for violence,” Fitch added. “Most people with serious mental illnesses pose no risk of harm at all, particularly to others.”

Five people were shot to death in the Capital Gazette newsroom in June 2018, and Ramos was indicted on 23 charges in the attack, including murder.

Killed in the attack were Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters and John McNamara. Six other staffers survived the attack.

Letters that threatened the newsroom and were signed with Ramos’ name were received by area judges and an attorney in the days following the attack.

WTOP’s John Domen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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