SUN: Remembering ‘Capital Gazette Five’ after deadly shooting 8 years ago

Eight years after a gunman murdered five Capital Gazette employees in the deadliest attack on journalists in U.S. history, survivors, colleagues and community members continue to honor their legacy while reflecting on the assault that forever changed their newsroom and the city.

The June 28, 2018, shooting claimed the lives of editorial writer Gerald Fischman, features writer and editor Rob Hiaasen, editor and sports reporter John McNamara, advertising assistant Rebecca Smith and features writer Wendi Winters.

Friends and family of the victims, government officials and journalists gathered around tables at the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel on Friday to share their individual stories about where they were when the shooting happened and how the city came together in such trying times.

Longtime Capital Gazette photographer Paul Gillespie was one of the survivors of the shooting. He had returned to the newsroom that day after an assignment in Glen Burnie when the gunman walked into the newspaper’s office and opened fire.

Gillespie first took cover under a desk before narrowly escaping the office and running to a nearby bank for help.

“I start thinking about my wife [under the desk], and like, is she gonna be able to take care of herself?” he said. “I thought [the gunman] was going to shoot his way through the glass doors at the bank. I still thought he was behind me the whole time.”

Last September, the city of Annapolis, the Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County and the Maryland Transportation Commission unveiled a sign on Rowe Boulevard, which dedicates the highway in honor of “The Capital Gazette Five.”

Read the full story on The Baltimore Sun’s website.