Fischman: 1956–2018 | Hiaasen: 1959–2018 | McNamara: 1961–2018 | Smith: 1983–2018 | Winters: 1953–2018
Capital Gazette | Annapolis, Maryland | June 28, 2018
Their murders represented an attack on the most fundamental level of American journalism—the local newsroom, where reporters cover zoning boards, high school sports, and small-town corruption without the resources or protection of major media organizations.
The Journalists
They represented the full ecosystem of a local newsroom—the professional diversity that makes community journalism work.
- Gerald Fischman, 61, was the editorial page editor and wrote editorials that analyzed local policy with precision and wit. Colleagues described him as brilliant, introspective, and meticulous—someone who could parse complex issues and explain them clearly.
- Rob Hiaasen, 59, served as assistant editor and columnist. Rob spent decades in journalism, first at the Petersburg Progress-Index in Virginia, then at the Palm Beach Post and The Baltimore Sun, before joining The Capital in 2010. At the Post in 1991, he wrote an award-winning investigation into a Florida dentist who allegedly transmitted HIV to five patients through contaminated instruments. In 1993, at The Sun, he wrote extensively about Kirk Bloodsworth, who became the first person exonerated from death row by DNA evidence. He is the brother of Carl Hiaasen, a novelist and retired newspaper columnist.
- John McNamara, 56, was a reporter who had recently been reassigned to cover courts and local news. For four decades prior to that role, he covered professional, college, and high school sports. Known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the history and context of sports in the U.S., he developed respect and deep connections with coaches, players, and families. He wrote books on football and basketball, voted in the AP basketball poll, and filled in for the AP. He excelled at inside baseball and was the kind of reporter who attended every game and remembered every player and every statistic.
- Rebecca Smith, 34, was a recent hire, joining the sales staff in 2017. While not a journalist, she was part of the newsroom community—the commercial side that kept the paper financially viable. She graduated from Stevenson University in 2006 with a master’s degree in marketing. She was an advocate for endometriosis and was planning to publish her own series of pieces to bring light to a serious illness that is commonly overlooked in women, including herself. As the office manager, she worked with the community in different aspects of the paper and always greeted everyone who stepped in with a warm smile. Her friends and family described her as fun, loving, and the most caring person anyone would ever meet.
- Wendi Winters, 65, worked as an editor, reporter, and community columnist. Known for her enthusiasm and tireless community engagement, she not only reported on good deeds done by members of the community but also actively performed them herself. She organized blood drives, supported local causes, and treated journalism as community service. Months before her death, she had taken an active shooter course—preparation that would prove grimly relevant.
The Work
The Capital began as The Evening Capital, founded in 1884 by William Abbott in Annapolis. In 1910, Abbott purchased the Maryland Gazette—established in 1727 and one of the oldest newspapers in the country—and merged them into one company. The combined legacy made the Capital Gazette one of the nation’s oldest continuously published newspapers.
By 2018, the paper had undergone ownership changes and decades of industry upheaval. Like most local newspapers, it operated on a shrinking budget with a small staff covering an entire county. The journalists worked in a modest office building on Bestgate Road, producing daily coverage from the state capital in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.
Local journalism at this level means everything: city council meetings, school board decisions, crime reports, high school athletics, business openings, obituaries, and community events. It is often unglamorous, essential work that documents how society functions at its most granular level. One of those stories, published in 2011, would have fatal consequences years later.
The Column
In July 2011, The Capital published a piece by its metro columnist about a man who pleaded guilty to criminal harassment of a former high school classmate. The column accurately reported the facts of the case, including court records and the guilty plea. It explored the relatively new world of social media harassment, exactly the kind of local accountability journalism newspapers exist to provide.
However, the man became obsessed with the column and the newspaper. He sued the paper for defamation in 2012, a case he lost both in circuit court and on appeal. The courts found the column to be accurate and protected by the First Amendment. But his fixation continued. He created social media accounts attacking the paper and its staff and sent threatening communications.
Multiple people reported concerns about him over the years. Nevertheless, security at the newspaper site was reduced due to budget cuts.
On June 28, 2018, the man entered The Capital newsroom carrying a 12-gauge shotgun. He barricaded the rear exit and then methodically hunted staff members in the office.
Wendi Winters stood up and started yelling at the gunman, delaying the attack. The active shooter training she had taken prepared her for this nightmare scenario. She rushed toward him, buying seconds for some of her colleagues to escape or take cover, but ultimately, she was shot and killed.
The gunman killed Fischman, Hiaasen, McNamara, and Smith as well. Others were injured while hiding or fleeing from the office. The attack lasted only minutes. Police arrested the gunman hiding under a desk.
The surviving Capital staff worked to publish the next day’s paper. “We’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow,” reporter Chase Cook said that night.
The front page headline read, “5 shot dead at The Capital.” The story included social media posts by Phil Davis, a reporter who survived by hiding under his desk, describing the sound of the gunman reloading, the terror of waiting, and the sounds of the attack.
In the days that followed, the staff continued to cover other news. The message was clear: they would not be silenced.
In October 2019, the gunman pleaded guilty to all charges but claimed he was not criminally responsible due to mental illness. A jury rejected that defense. In September 2021, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Legacy
In April 2019, The Capital was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize citation “for their courageous response to the largest killing of journalists in U.S. history in their newsroom on June 28, 2018, and for demonstrating an unflagging commitment to covering the news and serving their community at a time of unspeakable grief.”
Time magazine named the Capital Gazette staff among its 2018 “Persons of the Year,” recognizing journalists under attack worldwide as “The Guardians.”
The five who died that day represented the full spectrum of what local newsrooms require: thoughtful analysis (Fischman), narrative storytelling (Hiaasen), dogged reporting (McNamara), business support (Smith), and community connection (Winters). Their deaths left a hole in Annapolis journalism that has never been filled.
Years later, The Capital continues to publish, renamed Capital Gazette as part of the Baltimore Sun Media Group. The surviving staff members carry forward, but the trauma remains.