Mental health exam set for man charged in newspaper attack

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for the man charged with fatally shooting five people at a Maryland newspaper.

Judge Laura Ripken, in court papers filed Tuesday, ordered that Jarrod Ramos receive the evaluation at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center. The maximum security facility is Maryland’s forensic psychiatric hospital.

Lawyers for Ramos pleaded last month that he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. The evaluation is to determine competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility.

A doctor independent from the prosecution will write a report with recommendations. It will be sent to attorneys and the court.

A November trial is scheduled. Ramos is charged with first-degree murder in the June 2018 shooting attack on the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis.