The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

‘We are heartbroken, devastated’: Front page of Capital Gazette mourns loss of 5 colleagues after shooting

A gunman opened fire in Annapolis, Md., on Thursday

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June 29, 2018 at 11:54 a.m. EDT

Adapted from stories from The Washington Post’s Arelis R. Hernández, Joe Heim, Michael E. Ruane, Michael Brice-Saddler, Reis Thebault and Michael Brice-Saddler.

On Friday, the day after a gunman opened fire on their newsroom and killed five of their colleagues, the Capital Gazette staff put out a newspaper for its Annapolis, Md., community.

The front page featured a report on the shooting written by 10 staffers. Above a photo of police near the scene, there are five photographs of the lives lost: Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters.

“We are heartbroken, devastated,” Capital Gazette editor Rick Hutzell was quoted as saying in the front page article. “Our colleagues and friends are gone now. No matter how deep our loss is nothing compared to the grief our friends’ families are feeling.”

The opinion page of the paper read, “Today we are speechless. This page is intentionally left blank today to commemorate victims of Thursday’s shooting at our office.” It went on to list the names of the victims.

Here are the men and women who died as a result of Thursday’s shooting:

Wendi Winters

Wendi Winters, 65, was an editor and community reporter for the Capital Gazette. The mother of four lived in Edgewater, Md. She dedicated more than two decades of her career to community journalism, spotlighting local youth in her “Teen of the Week” columns and covering the arts scene.

Winters spent the first part of her work life in the fashion industry as a public relations consultant and executive for New York City firm, including the boutique firm she founded in 1981, Wendi Winters Public Relations, according to her LinkedIn page. When she moved to Maryland, she switched careers. After 11 years of freelancing for the Capital Gazette, she became a full-time staff writer at the newspaper in 2013 and an editor in 2016, according to various publication websites containing her work biography.

“She loved her kids. She loved her job,” said Susan O’Brien, the spokeswoman for the Annapolis mayor’s office. O’Brien had known Winters for at least 25 years

Read more about Winters here.

Gerald Fischman

Gerald Fischman, 61, was an award-winning writer and editor who worked at the Capital Gazette for 26 years. An editorial page editor for the paper, Fischman was known for being in the office at all hours.

“It didn’t matter if you were working late at night or early on a Saturday, he was there,” said Elisha Sauers, a reporter at the Virginian-Pilot who worked with Fischman at the Capital Gazette for eight years. Although he was quiet, Sauers said Fischman who sometimes chime in with a funny remark: “He always had the perfect aside.”

“He had a much louder voice in his writing than he did in person,” Sauers said. “He was so shy and avoided eye contact, but he was a lot more confident in his writing voice.”

Fischman is survived by his wife, Saran Erdenebat, an opera singer from Mongolia, and a stepdaughter.

Read more about Fischman here.

Rob Hiaasen

Rob Hiaasen, 59, was a veteran columnist, editor and journalism teacher, his family said. He penned a regular Sunday column.

In a recent one, he wrote about a lost cat:

“First, leveled at me have been longstanding accusations that I’m a romantic and sentimentalist (guilty, guilty). So what if I can’t pass a missing cat/but mainly missing dog poster and not blink? So what if I always stop in my tracks and spin stories for missing cats but mainly dogs?

Haven’t we all gone missing at one time or another?”

Hiaasen had been a feature writer at the Baltimore Sun for 15 years before moving to the Capital in 2010 as an assistant editor.

A native of Fort Lauderdale and a graduate of the University of Florida, he had been a reporter for the Palm Beach Post, and an anchor and reporter at news-talk radio stations in the South.

“I just want people to know what an in­cred­ibly gentle, generous and gifted guy my brother was,” said his brother, best-selling author and journalist Carl Hiaasen.

Rob Hiaasen was the youngest of four children, and is survived by his wife, Maria, a son and two daughters, his brother said.

Read more about Hiaasen here.

John McNamara

John McNamara worked at the Capital Gazette for more than 20 years, covering everything from local politics to professional sports. Friends, colleagues and young journalists he mentored remember him as a kind person and diligent reporter — someone who earned the trust and respect of his co-workers and sources alike.

As a young reporter, McNamara worked at The Washington Post as a part-time reporter covering high school sports. At the newspaper, he met another sports reporter: David Deutsch. McNamara and Deutsch, the former city manager in Bowie, Md., remained friends for more than 30 years.

Deutsch described him as a “genuinely good guy.” The two had talked on the phone just hours before McNamara was shot. They made plans for a dinner date in July.

McNamara is survived by his wife, Andrea Chamblee.

Read more about McNamara here.

Rebecca Smith

Rebecca Smith was a recent hire for the Capital Gazette in their Annapolis office, the Baltimore Sun reported. At the newspaper, she worked as a sales assistant.

Smith grew up in the Baltimore area and lived in eastern Baltimore County with her fiance, according to the Sun.

Justin Rebbert, 42, said he worked with Smith in 2013 at Freestate Ambulance in Linthicum Heights, a company that provides ambulance and medical transportation services in Baltimore and surrounding counties.

Rebbert described Smith, who was a marketing director for the ambulance service, as a cheerful employee with a strong work ethic who was always ready to make conversation, even during times he was feeling low.

Read more about Smith here.