USA TODAY International Edition
Journalists mourn colleagues, stay on the job
Capital Gazette reveals how shooting unfolded
A memorial service Monday in Annapolis will celebrate the life of a sharp, witty, longtime journalist – and shorts will be fine, because friends say “Big Rob” Hiaasen wouldn’t want anybody to be uncomfortable in Maryland’s summer heat.
Hiaasen, 59, and four colleagues were killed Thursday when a gunman rampaged through the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, a small daily that is as much a city institution as the sailboats that fill the harbor and the charming shops and restaurants that line the city’s quaint streets.
The small cadre of Gazette journalists who survived the rampage are mourning their colleagues and doing their jobs, continuing to write stories from the offices of their sister newspaper, The Baltimore Sun.
The Gazette published a print edition the next day, and the staff continued to report and write over the weekend. Among the headlines on the Gazette website Sunday: “How the Capital Gazette attack happened.” The article cites police – and the staffers who lived through the horror.
Jarrod Ramos, 38, who had sworn a “legal oath” in court documents to kill a Gazette writer, was held without bond on murder charges. Police said he targeted the paper because of its coverage of his conviction in 2011 for harassing a former classmate. Ramos sued the paper, but a judge threw out his lawsuit.
The Gazette story details how the gunman entered the newspaper office’s main entrance at around 2:30 p.m., shattering the glass door with the first blasts from his shotgun.
Eleven people were in the room. Within minutes, Hiaasen, editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, 61; editor-writer John McNamara, 56; sales assistant Rebecca Smith, 34; and reporter-editor Wendi Winters, 65, were fatally shot.
The attacker fired twice as he entered, striking Smith, then picked his way through the room, shooting Winters, Fischman and Hiaasen. McNamara was last, then the shooter apparently ducked under a desk.
Surviving staffers trembled under their desks. The room smelled of gunpowder as police fearlessly swept in, less than two minutes after the first 911 calls. Some tended to victims, others began the search for the gunman. The suspect was found within minutes and surrendered without further violence.
An outpouring of support for the paper and its staff soon followed. A vigil Friday drew thousands to the City Dock. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly blasted the “fake news” media, called the attack a “horrible, horrible event” and said no one, including journalists, should fear a violent attack for doing their job.
New England Patriots football coach Bill Belichick, who was raised in Annapolis, issued a statement calling the Gazette his “hometown newspaper” for his entire life.
“My family and I have enjoyed special relationships with many great people who have worked for the newspaper,” Belichick said. “My heart goes out to the victims, their families and the entire Annapolis community for this terrible and senseless tragedy.”