4 Journalists, 1 Staffer Killed In Shooting At Capital Gazette In Annapolis
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ/AP) -- Five employees of The Capital Gazette were killed when a sole gunman opened fire in their Annapolis newsroom Thursday afternoon.
Lt. Ryan Frashure of Anne Arundel County Police identified the victims as Wendi Winters, John McNamara, Gerald Fischman, Rebecca Smith and Rob Hiaasen.
RELATED: Veteran Journalist Rob Hiaasen Among Dead In Attack On Paper
Winters was the special publications editor. McNamara was a writer. Fischman was editorial page editor. Smith was a sales assistant. Hiassen was an assistant editor and columnist.
GERALD FISCHMAN
Gerald Fischman, the editorial page editor at the Capital Gazette, was an "old-fashioned journalist," a former editor of the paper said.
Steve Gunn remembered Fischman as "the master of AP style" who "made sure everything was just right."
"He was famous for working long days and being very precise in his language and always making sure the editorial page reflected the heart of the newspaper," Gunn said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Fischman had worked at the paper 26 years.
ROB HIAASEN
Journalist Rob Hiaasen's family is "devastated" by his death, said his brother, author Carl Hiaasen.
Carl Hiaasen, a prolific novelist and a longtime columnist for the Miami Herald, confirmed that his brother, also a columnist and an editor, was one of the Annapolis victims.
In a brief phone call with The Associated Press, Carl Hiaasen said his family "was devastated beyond words" by the senseless killing of his brother at The Capital Gazette.
"He was the most remarkable person. So gifted and talented and dedicated to journalism," he said, his voice choked with emotion.
Saying he was too wracked with grief to speak further, Hiaasen referred an AP reporter to something he had just posted to his Facebook page, describing Rob as one of the most "gentle and funny people I've ever known."
Gunn, the former Capital Gazette editor, said Rob Hiaasen was a "gifted editor who had an aura of an artist around him who made people want to make journalism a beautiful craft."
What We Know | 5 Killed In Shooting At Capital Gazette In Annapolis
JOHN McNAMARA
John McNamara was a longtime staff writer at the paper.
Gunn said McNamara was workmanlike — "classic come to work and tell me what I need to do."
REBECCA SMITH
Rebecca Smith was a sales assistant at the Capital Gazette.
WENDI WINTERS
Special publications editor Wendi Winters was "the heart of the newspaper," Gunn said.
Winters was passionate about serving the community and a role model for younger journalist, he recalled.
"She was in many ways the best part of the newspaper in that she cared so much about the city," he said.
According to CBS News, the suspected gunman was identified as 38-year-old Jarrod Ramos of Laurel, Maryland.
RELATED: Gunman ID'd As Jarrod Ramos; 5 Dead In Capital Gazette Shooting In Annapolis
Ramos has had a longstanding feud with the newspaper, including filing a defamation suit against the paper, a former reporter and a former publisher in 2012. In 2015, Maryland's second-highest court upheld a ruling in favor of the Capital Gazette.
Authorities said he would not cooperate during interrogations and did not have identification on him. The suspect also damaged his fingertips in an effort to avoid identification.
A U.S. official says the suspect was identified using facial recognition technology.
Law enforcement officials said the shooter was found hiding under a desk.
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