Gunman attacks journalists: 5 dead

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — A man firing a shotgun and armed with smoke grenades killed four journalists and a staffer at Maryland's capital newspaper, then was swiftly taken into custody by police who rushed into the building.

Thursday's attack on The Capital Gazette in Annapolis came amid months of verbal and online attacks on the "fake news media" from politicians and others from President Donald Trump on down. It prompted New York City police to immediately tighten security at news organizations in the nation's media capital.

Police said the suspect in custody is a white man in his late 30s. Acting Police Chief William Krampf of Anne Arundel County called it a targeted attack in which the gunman "looked for his victims … prepared today to come in, … prepared to shoot people."

Journalists crawled under desks and sought other hiding places in what they described as minutes of terror as they heard the gunman's footsteps and the repeated blasts of the shotgun as he moved about the newsroom.

Those killed included Rob Hiaasen, 59, the paper's assistant managing editor and brother of novelist Carl Hiaasen. Carl Hiaasen said he was "devastated and heartsick" at losing his brother, "one of the most gentle and funny people I've ever known."

Also slain were Gerald Fischman, editorial page editor; features reporter Wendi Winters; reporter John McNamara, and sales assistant Rebecca Smith. The newspaper said two other employees had non-life threatening injuries and were later released from a hospital.

Phil Davis, a courts and crime reporter for the paper, tweeted that the gunman shot out the glass door to the office and fired into the newsroom, sending people scrambling under desks.

"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload," he wrote in a tweet. In a later interview appearing on the paper's online site, Davis likened the newspaper office to a "war zone."

Reporter Selene San Felice told CNN she was at her desk but ran after hearing shots, only to find a back door locked. She then watched as a colleague was shot, adding she didn't glimpse the gunman.

Survivors said the shooting — though it seemed agonizingly long — lasted mere minutes. And police said their response was swift.

Police spokesman Lt. Ryan Frashure said officers arrived within about 60 seconds and took the gunman into custody without an exchange of gunfire. About 170 people were then evacuated from the building, which houses other offices, many leaving with their hands up as police and other emergency vehicles arrived.