5 Capital Gazette newsroom employees identified as victims of 'targeted' shooting, officials say

Five employees at the Capital Gazette newsroom were killed Thursday afternoon when a gunman opened fire in a "targeted attack" on the newspaper, according to authorities.

Anne Arundel County acting police Chief William Krampf identified the victims as Gerald Fischman, the paper's editorial page editor; Robert Hiaasen, a columnist and editor; John McNamara, a staff writer; Rebecca Smith, a sales assistant; and Wendi Winters, a special publications editor. Two other people were injured, police said.

Hiaasen, 59, is the brother of Miami Herald columnist and author Carl Hiaasen, according to the Herald. He’d worked as a columnist and editor at the paper since 2010, according to the newspaper. "He had a zeal for writing and finding good stories," said Jon Morgan, a former editor at the Baltimore Sun who worked with Hiaasen.

Winters, 65, was “dedicated” and loved the news business, a former Capital Gazette community news editor told the Sun.

Fischman, 61, who worked at the paper since 1992, was a “great writer” and “really smart guy,” according to editor and publisher Tom Marquardt, the newspaper reported.

The paper's advertising director Marty Padden told the Sun that Smith, 34, was "kind and considerate, and willing to help when needed." Her Facebook profile describes her as a "softball fiance" and "bonus Mom to the best kid ever.”

Covering sports was McNamara's dream job, the newspaper reported. Colleagues say the "jack of all trades" journalist had a deep knowledge of regional sports and "an infectious laugh." David Deutsch, a former Bowie, Maryland, city manager, told The Washington Post that McNamara was a "genuinely good guy."

Krampf on Thursday afternoon said a white man in his 30s intentionally targeted the newspaper when he entered the building near Annapolis, Maryland, with a shotgun, looking for his victims. Police identified Jarrod W. Ramos, 38, as the suspect, according to the Baltimore Sun, which owns the Capital Gazette.

Krampf said threats were sent to the Capital Gazette over social media.

"We're trying to confirm what account that was, and we're trying to confirm who sent them," he said. "To my knowledge those threats were as early as today."

Police Lt. Ryan Frashure told CNN they believe the suspect "had some type of conflict" with the paper.

Ramos, a resident of Laurel, Maryland, sued the newspaper in 2012, accusing a former reporter of defamation following a piece about criminal harassment charges Ramos pleaded guilty to, the Capital Gazette reported in 2015.

That article was published in July 2011, about a week after Ramos had pleaded guilty to criminal harassment charges, court records said. He was put on probation, required to attend therapy and couldn’t reach out to the victim and her relatives.

Police said Thursday the Capital Gazette building has been secured following the shooting. Officers recovered what they thought was an explosive device. More than 170 people were escorted out of the building safely.

The Annapolis Capital Gazette's office is located on the first floor of the 888 Bestgate Road building, which sits directly across the street from the Westfield Annapolis Mall.

The building, a short drive from historic downtown Annapolis, is host to a variety of companies. The newspaper's office is guarded only by a glass front door. The newsroom itself is mostly made up of one main room, with a few other smaller offices near the front door.

Phil Davis, a Gazette crime reporter, wrote on Twitter after the shooting that a gunman fired through the office’s glass door and hit multiple employees. He said there was one shooter, and that the gunfire left multiple dead. “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” Davis wrote on Twitter.

Davis later told the Baltimore Sun the office was "like a war zone." He said he and others were hiding under the desks — then the gunfire stopped, the newspaper reported.

"I don't know why. I don't know why he stopped," Davis said.

Jared Gilmour contributed to this report.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 10:46 PM with the headline "5 Capital Gazette newsroom employees identified as victims of 'targeted' shooting, officials say."