Family Members Remember Capital Gazette Attack Victims
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ/AP) — Less than 72 hours after deadly gunfire erupted inside the Capital Gazette, family members shared memories of the victims.
"Without a doubt, Rob Hiassen was my best friend," Hiassen's wife, Maria, said.
Hiassen was also a father and journalist -- and victim of Thursday's attack on the Annapolis newspaper.
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The 59-year-old assistant managing editor was one of five who couldn't escape the deadly gunfire of a targeted and carefully planned massacre.
The four other victims: editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, special projects editor Wendi Winters, reporter John McNamara and sales assistant Rebecca Smith.
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Together, the victims had more than 75 years of experience at the Capital Gazette.
Five white crosses now stand on the side of Bestgate Road in Annapolis. The wooden memorials are a tradition born out of tragedy.
Three miles away, inside St. Anne's Church, prayers for the five lives cut short by gunfire.
"He understood that the key to success as a human being and, certainly, the key to success as a journalist is to remember your humanity. To remember people's feelings. To look for the human being behind the story," Maria Hiassen said.
Accused gunman Jarrod Ramos marched through the newsroom with a shotgun after barricading the back door so his victims couldn't escape.
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The victims range from 34 to 59 years old. The gunfire that cut their lives short simultaneously shattered the sense of security in the close community.
On Friday night, Annapolis honored them.
Quietly clutching candles or hoisting #AnnapolisStrong signs, more than 1,000 people streamed through Maryland's capital.
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Friends, former co-workers and people who felt connected to the victims took part in a strikingly silent candlelit march to honor the slain employees who were killed a day earlier in one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history.
Ramos has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Authorities say he has a longtime grudge against the paper, suing it in 2012 after it ran an article about him pleading guilty to harassing a woman. He also sent a barrage of menacing tweets that led to an investigation five years ago.
A detective concluded he was no threat, and the paper didn't want to press charges for fear of "putting a stick in a beehive."
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