Capital parent establishes fund

Aid to families, survivors; Ferro and Merrill family foundations contribute

The owner of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis announced the creation of a fund for the families, victims and survivors of the mass shooting Thursday in the newspaper’s office.

The Capital Gazette Families Fund is being managed through the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, owner tronc announced. The Michael and Jacky Ferro Family Foundation will match up to $1 million in donations.

Tronc is the parent company of The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which includes the Capital.

Tronc CEO and Chairman Justin Dearborn, said the victims would forever be remembered as “outstanding people and journalists who we will continue to honor.”

“Yesterday was an incredibly tragic day for our colleagues in Annapolis — a tragedy felt deeply by all of us at our papers across the country,” Dearborn wrote in a letter to the company. “Our hearts go out to the families, friends and coworkers of Gerald Fischman, Robert Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters, who died Thursday in the shooting at the Capital Gazette.”

The fund has received a $100,000 donation from the Merrill Family Foundation, which was founded by the late Philip Merrill, the Capital Gazette’s former owner and publisher.

“As publisher of the Capital Gazette for almost 40 years, this tragedy hits very close to home,” Nancy Merrill, president of the family foundation, said in a statement.

Authorities say the shooting was an isolated, premeditated attack on The Capital. Jarrod W. Ramos, a 38-year-old Laurel man, was charged Friday with five counts of first-degree murder. Tronc officials said they are enhancing security across its properties, which include The Baltimore Sun, The New York Daily News, The Chicago Tribune and other newspapers across the country.

A separate GoFundMe fundraiser set up by a Washington journalist has already doubled its original goal, raising more than $143,000.