New York, June 28, 2018–At least five people were killed in a shooting in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, this afternoon. Police have a suspect in custody, but his identity and motive are unknown, the newspaper reported on its website.
“We are appalled by the shooting in the Capital Gazette newsroom. Newspapers like the Gazette do vital work, and our thoughts are with them amid this unconscionable tragedy,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “Violence against journalists is unacceptable, and we welcome the thorough investigation into the motivations behind the shooting.”
Neither the newspaper nor the police immediately identified the victims or whether they were journalists. Seven journalists have been killed in relation to their work in the United States since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, including two journalists shot and killed during a live broadcast in Virginia by an aggrieved coworker in 2015. Earlier this year, a music journalist was killed in Chicago; CPJ is still investigating the motive for that killing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The third paragraph previously included an incorrect number of journalists killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. One journalist was killed that day, according to CPJ research.