New Delhi: In a horrific incident, at least five people were killed in a shooting when a gunman opened fire in the newsroom of a daily newspaper in the US state of Maryland on Friday. As per the report, the person suspected is a white adult male who opened fire through a glass door at the Capital Gazette newspaper and sprayed the newsroom with gunfire killing multiple employees presented in the newsroom. It is estimated that at least three people were wounded in the shooting at the building that houses the Capital Gazette, a newspaper published in Annapolis.

The cops have meanwhile taken the suspect into their custody and the probe is underway. Marc Limansky, the spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Police Department said the officers are searching the building where the shooting was reported. He said the situation is active and ongoing.

The newspaper is located in a four-story office building in Annapolis, the capital of the US state of Maryland and a historic city an hour east of Washington. As per reports, people were seen leaving the building with their hands up, as police officers urged them to depart through a parking lot and officers converged on the building. A reporter for the Capital Gazette, Phil Davis, took to Twitter and wrote about the tragedy in which he mentioned that a gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. He said several people were killed. "There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," Davis wrote.

Meanwhile, the White House has confirmed that President Donald Trump had been briefed about the incident. "ATF Baltimore is responding to a shooting incident at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis," the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco said on Twitter.

Calling the tragedy as devastating, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan appealed the masses, "Please, heed all warnings and stay away from the area. Praying for those at the scene and for our community."

(With inputs from AFP)