Capital Gazette reporter: Single gunman shot multiple people
Journalist Phil Davis tweets on newsroom attack in Annapolis, Maryland: 'There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.'
At least five people were killed in Maryland on Thursday after a suspect opened fire near the Capital Gazette's newsroom in Anne Arundel County — as journalists covered the terrifying scene inside their building.
The suspect was apprehended, Sheriff Ron Bateman told Fox News. The FBI's Baltimore field office has responded to the scene.
Amid the shooting, reporters and employees for the local newspaper continued to do their jobs.
Anthony Messenger, an intern for the news outlet, tweeted of an "active shooter" at 888 Bestgate — the office building of the Gazette. "Please help us," Messenger wrote.
Reporter Phil Davis tweeted more information about what happened at the newsroom: "A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead."
"Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees," he said. Davis said that while he couldn't give a definitive number of fatalities, "it's bad."
He added, "There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload."
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen responded to Davis' above tweet, writing that he "can't imagine what you and the entire Capital Gazette team are going through right now.
"Journalists shouldn't have to fend off bullets in the newsroom while doing their jobs—this is not normal," the Democratic senator tweeted. "Stay strong."
Photojournalist Joshua McKerrow said that he was safe and not in the newsroom during the shooting, and began to identify fellow journalists and employees who have been confirmed safe. He simply wrote he was "Heartbroken," and posted images from the scene.
Danielle Ohl, a news reporter at the paper who tweeted she was on vacation, said that one of her colleagues "is in the hospital with an injury." She identified five other coworkers who "are ok."
Another employee of the Gazette, Bill Wagner, tweeted that he's "okay" and was not in the newsroom at the time of the shooting.
"However, many of my colleagues and friends are not okay and that is solely where my thoughts are right now," Wagner, who covers sports for the paper, tweeted.
An editor at the newspaper, Jimmy DeButts, detailed on Twitter Thursday evening that the journalists who work for the Capital Gazette "give all they have every day."
"There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays - just a passion for telling stories from our [community.]"
"We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment," DeButts said. "We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community.
"We try to expose corruption. We fight to get access to public records & bring to light the inner workings of government despite major hurdles put in our way," he said of the work journalists do each day. "The reporters & editors put their all into finding the truth. That is our mission. Will always be."
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