This mass shooting has targeted a newsroom
A gunman opened fire on the newsroom of the Capital Gazette yesterday in Annapolis, Md., killing five and injuring two. The suspect, a white male in his 30s, was found hiding under a desk and taken into custody. As of last night, he was being uncooperative with authorities.
Phil Davis, a police reporter for the Gazette, began posting on Twitter as the situation unfolded, form under his desk in the newsroom. “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” one of his Tweets read.
No motive is yet known
While a motive is not yet known, violence and threats of violence against journalists have been increasing in recent years. President Donald Trump has been openly hostile to most journalists. He has accused them of pedaling “fake news” and threatening to take away credentials from those who wrote negative news about him. Milo Yiannopoulous, a right-wing poster boy, recently sent comments to reporters from the New York Observer and the Daily Beast, stating that he can’t “wait for vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight”.
The Capital Gazette did publish a Friday edition with multiple newsroom staffers and reporters from sister publication the Baltimore Sun writing stories. “I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow,” said Gazette reporter Chase Cook in a Tweet last night.
A Bloomberg journalist started a crowdfunding campaign to help support the victims. As of early this morning, it had raised more than $100,000. The original goal had previously been set to $30,000. It was raised several times as the donation pledges added up.
