The Latest: Memorial Services Set For Two Of Five Victims From Newspaper Shooting
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Latest on the Annapolis newspaper shooting (all times local):
9:05 p.m.
Memorial services for two of the five victims killed in a shooting at a Maryland newspaper have been scheduled for next week.
The Baltimore Sun reports that a "celebration of life" for 59-year-old Rob Hiaasen will be held Monday at the Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills.
The invitation says shorts are welcome, as the slain Capital assistant managing editor wouldn't have wanted attendees to have to wear a suit for him.
The newspaper says a memorial service for special publications editor Wendi Winters will take place at noon July 7 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis.
Phoenix Geimer, one of Winters' daughters, announced the plans on Facebook. In lieu of flowers, Geimer urged well-wishers to make a donation to the Girl Scouts of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, or the American Red Cross.
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7 p.m.
A priest in Annapolis who is a former journalist has highlighted in a sermon the importance of the work of the five journalists who were killed in a shooting at The Capital newspaper in Annapolis.
The Rev. M. Dion Thompson focused on the sorrow the shootings have caused in the town during a Saturday evening sermon at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Annapolis.
Thompson says it's an affliction that lies on everyone who has gathered at vigils. He also says the families of the five who were killed are "suffering through this unspeakable sorrow."
Thompson worked at The Baltimore Sun for 15 years.
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5 p.m.
A former publisher at a Maryland newspaper says she treated threats from a man charged with killing five employees "incredibly seriously" after he first made them several years ago.
Jarrod Ramos is charged with murder after police say he opened fire Thursday at The Capital in Annapolis.
Patricia Richardson was the publisher when Ramos sent menacing tweets five years ago. Authorities say Ramos has a grudge against the paper, suing it in 2012 after it wrote about him pleading guilty to harassing a woman.
Richardson is now publisher of The Day in New London, Connecticut. The paper reported Friday that Richardson said she was advised "we were doing all we could do" in response to Ramos' threats.
Richardson said she made staff aware and got law enforcement involved. Anne Arundel County police records show a detective concluded Ramos wasn't a threat to employees. The detective wrote the paper didn't want to press charges for fear of "putting a stick in a beehive."
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4:15 p.m.
Court records show a man charged with killing five people at a Maryland newspaper was fired from a government IT contractor because of concerns about his "suitability."
Jarrod Ramos is charged with murder after police say he opened fire Thursday at Capital Gazette offices in Annapolis.
District of Columbia Superior Court records show Ramos sued Virginia-based Enterprise Information Systems in 2014 over lost wages.
In a letter to the company's president filed in court records, Ramos said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics requested he be removed from his job.
Ramos wrote he was only told there was a "suitability" concern. A panel of judges wrote that the prime contractor "demanded" Ramos be fired for unspecified reasons.
Ramos won $1,200 in the suit for a bonus he said EIS had denied him.
EIS officials did not respond immediately Saturday to a request for comment.
A U.S. Labor Department spokesman said Ramos worked on IT contracts for the labor statistics bureau from 2007 to 2014.
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3:15 p.m.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is expressing sympathy for the families and friends of those killed at the office of The Capital, which he calls his "hometown newspaper."
Though born in Tennessee, Belichick was raised in Annapolis. His father was an assistant football coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. Belichick graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970.
A gunman opened fire Thursday at the newspaper's office, killing five people.
In a tweet, Belichick says: "For my entire life, The Capital has been my hometown newspaper. My family and I have enjoyed special relationships with many great people who have worked for the newspaper. My heart goes out to the victims, their families and the entire Annapolis community for this terrible and senseless tragedy."
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2:45 p.m.
The historic state capital of Annapolis is draped in grief from the attack at the local newspaper that killed the journalists who chronicled soccer games, art exhibits and the fabric of small-city life.
Mary Adams owns The Annapolis Bookstore and knew two of the five people killed. She said Saturday that the tragedy "feels so personal." She says a sign outside her store sums up the depth of grief. It reads: "There are no words."
Annapolis is a quaint waterside town of about 40,000. With its weekly sailboat races and picturesque downtown, residents were settling into the rhythms of summer when the shooting shattered the town's usual tranquility.
Caitlin Walls works in an interior design shop. She says it's sad to see such violence "in places that you thought were the safer places."
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10:52 p.m.
More than 1,000 people have streamed through Maryland's capital to honor five people slain in a newspaper office, quietly clutching candles or hoisting #AnnapolisStrong signs.
Those who gathered Friday night remembered the employees of The Capital newspaper as a crucial piece of their tight-knit community.
David Marsters worked at the newspaper from 2008 to 2016 and said the outpouring of grief is a testament to the special bond the newspaper has with its readers.
Killed Thursday were Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, John McNamara and Rebecca Smith.
Jarrod W. Ramos has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder in one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in U.S. history.