National Moment Of Silence Planned For Newspaper Victims Thursday

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Newsrooms nationwide, along with local government employees, plan to hold a moment of silence Thursday, July 5, at the exact moment one week ago that a gunman barged into the Capital Gazette offices and began firing a shotgun. Five employees were killed in one of the worst attacks in decades on U.S. media. Together, the five people shot and killed and two others injured were a solid news crew, dedicating their careers to a newspaper that traces its roots to Colonial days.

Police said Jarrod Ramos, 38, of Laurel, Maryland, made a "targeted attack" on the newspaper. Through the chaos, reporters provided the eyewitness accounts that are a hallmark of journalism, sharing the gut wrenching ordeal in a series of tweets sent from their crouched positions under desks, where they shielded themselves from the gunman's bullets.

Ramos is in jail without bond, charged with five counts of murder and was apparently seeking revenge for a July 2011 article the Capital published about a criminal case against him for harassing a former high school classmate so severely she feared for her life. The article was apparently a source of anger that simmered for years.

Three threatening letters were mailed before the shooting, dated June 28 and signed by Ramos vowing to kill “every person present" when he arrived at the newspaper office, Anne Arundel County police said. One letter was apparently sent to the paper’s former attorney at his law office, while others went to a judge and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the Baltimore Sun reports.

The publisher and editor in chief of The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which owns the Capital, said that employees will hold a moment of silence at 2:33 p.m. ET on Thursday, precisely one week after police say Ramos began firing a shotgun in the newsroom.

Anne Arundel County government employees will join newsrooms worldwide for a moment of silence Thursday in honor of the victims. At the flagpole outside Arundel Center at 44 Calvert Street in Annapolis, County Executive Steve Schuh will join county employees to remember those lost in the tragedy. Other county office complexes will hold similar gatherings.

“At times like this, it is crucial we come together as a community,” Schuh said in a statement. “I am encouraging employees across county government to join us in remembering these fallen journalists.”

In a letter to colleagues, Trif Alatzas said, “The Capital Gazette staff exhibited great bravery and emotional fortitude as they covered the story of the attack on their offices while dealing with their own trauma. We know that Gerald, John, Wendi, Rob and Rebecca would have expected nothing less.”

Employees in the media group’s Annapolis, Carroll and Baltimore offices will observe the moment of silence.

Those killed are:

• Rob Hiaasen, 59, Assistant Editor / Sunday Columnist
• Gerald Fischman, 61, Editorial Page Editor
• John McNamara, 56, Sports Reporter
• Wendi Winters, 65, Editor / Community Reporter
• Rebecca Smith, 34, Sales Assistant

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. And like Patch on Facebook!)

The presidents of the American Society of News Editors and the Associated Press Media Editors have both called for newsrooms worldwide to observe a moment of silence along with the Maryland journalists.

"The tragedy last Thursday at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, tears at our hearts, tugs at our compassion and calls forth our fears for the safety of all those on the front lines of truth, accountability and journalistic pursuit," the groups said in a statement. "To honor those who lost their lives and to show support to those who lost family, friends, co-workers and peers, we ask newsrooms around the globe to join The Baltimore Sun Media Group in a moment of silence spent in contemplation, prayer, reflection or meditation at 2:33 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 5, 2018.

"As we unite in solidarity behind the grit of the Capital Gazette team and its media family, let us remember the very real needs of those in Annapolis. Funds have been set up for the families of those lost and to assist the newsroom with its recovery. Please consider giving help where help is sorely needed."

SEE ALSO:

• Annapolis Shooting: 5 Murder Counts Filed In Capital Gazette Case
• Editor Had Feared Suspect As 'Crazy Enough' To 'Blow Us All Away'
• Annapolis Shooting: Here Are The 5 Capital Gazette Victims
• How To Help Capital Gazette Victims, Staff After Shootings

Ramos was fired from his job as a help desk specialist in the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington in 2014, according to court documents. CNN reports that he filed a lawsuit claiming he was owed more money, and that he was not told why he was fired or what he had done wrong. His employer said responded that an investigation had raised security concerns about Ramos.

Survivors Share Stories

Hiaasen's wife, Maria, told CNN her husband "was a natural observer and a natural human being in that he got humanity. He realized this big world is fouled up and it's full of all kinds of mayhem and pressure."

"You can't be a journalist and not see that," she continued. "[H]e understood that the key to success as a human being ... and as a journalist is to remember your humanity. To remember people's feelings. To look for the human being behind the story."

Rob Hiaasen's death is a loss not only to his family, but to the community, she said.

Reporter Rachel Pacella told CNN's Reliable Sources that she was finishing a story on induction day at the Naval Academy when she heard a glass shattered by a gunshot and ducked under her desk. But she soon realized she might not be safe there, so she ran to a back door, which police later say the gunman had barricaded so nobody could escape. She slammed hard into the doorframe, hit her head and then "I sort of hopped over in between some filing cabinets and I hid there."

She said she kept asking hospital workers and then the police about what had happened to her colleagues, and learned their fates after she was interviewed by police Friday night.

Phil Davis, a reporter who covers crime at the paper, tweeted that he was hiding under his desk as the gunman opened fire. He texted Annapolis Police Sgt. Amy Miguez to summon help, afraid to make a call to 911 in case the gunman heard him.

As he hid under his desk, he wrote, he could hear the gunman reload his weapon. In a subsequent interview with The Baltimore Sun, Davis wrote that it "was like a war zone" inside the newspaper's offices.

Once Davis got to safety, he knew that some of his colleagues had been killed in the shooting. Still, he did what he normally would were he reporting from a crime scene and began to post updates about what had happened inside the building.

Funds To Honor Victims, Survivors

A local fundraiser has been established to help the families, victims and survivors of the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette, the newspaper's owner said Friday. The Capital Gazette Families Fund will be managed through the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County, and the Michael and Jacky Ferro Family Foundation will match up to $1 million of donations, according to tronc, the parent company of The Baltimore Sun Media Group, which includes the Capital.

To donate call (410) 280-1102, go online to cfaac.org or send a check to CFAAC at 914 Bay Ridge Road, Suite 220, Annapolis, Maryland 21403 with “The Capital Gazette Families Fund” listed on the memo line.

Bloomberg Government reporter Madi Alexander started a GoFundMe page to help the shooting victims. The fund had received about $188,000 in donations by Monday afternoon.

CFAAC finance director Taylor Milbradt and Alexander have discussed pooling the GoFundMe donations with those being managed by the foundation. Alexander said she has designated CFAAC’s families fund as the sole official beneficiary of the GoFundMe, so Milbradt will be able to transfer money directly to the families fund from GoFundMe as donations come in.

PHOTO: The June 29 edition of the the Capital Gazette for sale on a newspaper stand. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)