The man sprays the Maryland newsroom with shots, kills at least five

A gunman opened fire through a glbad door in an office in Maryland's capital Annapolis and smashed the newsroom Thursday, killing at least five people and injuring several others, authorities said.

The suspect was apprehended and no motive is known for the attack at the Capital Gazette office, local political leaders said, adding that they think he has acted alone.

A newspaper reporter described the scene in the newsroom as "like a war zone", with journalists hiding under their desk for security reasons.

Phil Davis, who introduced himself as a journalist of the courts and crime at the Capital Gazette, who runs several newspapers in his Annapolis office, tweeted that several people had been shot dead.

Davis said in an interview with the Baltimore Sun, owner of the Gazette, that he and others were still hiding under their desks when the shooter stopped firing.

"I do not know why, I do not know why he stopped," he said. "But as much as I'm going to try to articulate how traumatic it is to hide under your desk, you do not know until you're there and you feel helpless."

A law enforcement source told CBS News that the suspect was a man in his early twenties who had no identification on him. Two police sources told CBS News that the suspect had used a shotgun and that CNN had indicated that he was not cooperating with the police.

Baltimore and New York police forces deployed protective forces in the mainstream media as a precautionary measure, authorities said.

For now, Annapolis shooting is treated as a local incident and not as an act of terrorism, said a law enforcement official. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is on the scene badisting local authorities, the official said.

Davis later stated that he was safe and to be questioned by the police. The daily newspaper and sister publications have an editorial team of about 45 people, backed by a sales and advertising team of about 10 employees, according to the company's website.

Police said that they were on the scene in about a minute of the initial appeal about the shooting.

President Donald Trump was informed of the shooting, said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, thanks to all the first responders who are currently on the scene," Trump said in a tweet.

The police went to the Baltimore Sun offices as a precaution, reports the newspaper.

The New York Police Department stated that it was strengthening security in New York news agencies as a precautionary measure.

"We are deploying units of our Critical Response Command in the New York media," said Andrew Lava, an NYPD spokesman.

"There is no active threat at this time," he said.

Officers from the Bureau of Baltimore's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the incident, tweeted the office.

Police checks the Annapolis building for explosives and if more than one suspect was involved, Anne Arundel County police spokesman, Lt. Ryan Frashure, told reporters.

Live video footage showed people leaving the building walking in a parking lot with their hands in the air. Dozens of police vehicles were on the scene.