
21 Sep Rob Hiaasen
As shotgun blasts ran through the office glass doors, staffers hid under desks and behind filing cabinets. Some tried to escape through the back door, but the gunman had barricaded it shut. Editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, “the conscience and voice” of the Gazette, was shot dead. Community beat reporter Wendi Winters 65; editor and columnist Rob Hiaasen, 59; sports reporter John McNamara, 56; and sales assistant Rebecca Smith, 34 were also among the fallen. The accused gunman, who was arrested at the scene, reportedly held a grudge against the newspaper because it reported in 2011 about a harassment charge against him. The newspaper had received online threats from the accused gunman. The Capital Gazette staff was awarded a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board in April 2019 for their courageous commitment to report the news after the tragedy.