'Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper': Capital Gazette publishes day after gunfire erupts in newsroom

Susan Miller | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Police on Capital Gazette shooting: 'This was a targeted attack' Police say the Capital Gazette newspaper shooting that left at least 5 people dead in Annapolis, Maryland was "a targeted attack."

The Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, published a newspaper the day after its newsroom was ripped apart by gunfire.

"Yes, we’re putting out a damn paper tomorrow," the paper tweeted, fulfilling a promise made by a resolute reporter earlier in the day.

The tweet contained an image of Friday's front page. "5 shot dead at The Capital," the headline reads.

The paper also published blank opinion page inside, saying "today, we are speechless"

Reporter Chase Cook had vowed a "damn paper" just hours after the shooting at the Capital, a paper that is the lifeblood of the waterside community of Annapolis.

Cook, who said he was not in the building during the carnage that left five people dead, said a colleague, crime reporter Phil Davis, was — and heard the chilling sounds of the shooter reloading.

On page A9, there was an eerie reminder of editorial page editor Gerald Fischman's absence, as well as the other staffers lost. The opinion page was blank, aside from saying "today, we are speechless" alongside the names of those killed Thursday.

A final sentence promised the page "will return to its steady purpose of offering our readers informed opinion about the world around them, that they might be better citizens."

Tomorrow this Capital page will return to its steady purpose of offering readers informed opinion about the world around them. But today, we are speechless. pic.twitter.com/5HzKN2IW7Q — Capital Gazette (@capgaznews) June 29, 2018

Staffers dived under desks as bullets pierced through a glass door, Davis told The Baltimore Sun, the Capital's parent company.

"There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload,” he said.

Staff writer Selene San Felice, who also took cover under a desk during the rampage, told CNN in a powerful interview that it was hard to fathom how a normal workday turned into one in which she watched colleagues die and was recounting the horror on national TV hours later.

Felice, who said she had covered the Pulse shooting in Orlando, said she was shattered. "I'm going to need more than a couple days of news coverage and some thoughts and prayers," she told CNN.

For journalists used to covering the news, it seemed a surreal twist of fate as police and emergency responders swarmed their building.

Joshua McKerrow, a photojournalist who had covered Induction Day at the Naval Academy at sunrise Thursday, told the Sun he was heading home for his daughter's birthday when he was shaken by a phone call from editor Rick Hutzell.

“He said he’d heard there had been a shooting, and he couldn't get in touch with anyone in the newsroom,” McKerrow said. When sirens echoed, “my heart sank and I knew,” he told the Sun.

"Numb, devastated and heartbroken" were the anguished words from editor Jimmy DeButts, who lauded the daily determination of the staff's reporters and editors.

“There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays — just a passion for telling stories from our community,” he tweeted.

Devastated & heartbroken. Numb. Please stop asking for information/interviews. I’m in no position to speak, just know @capgaznews reporters & editors give all they have every day. There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays - just a passion for telling stories from our communty. — Jimmy DeButts (@jd3217) June 28, 2018

I can tell you this: We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow. — Chase Cook (@chaseacook) June 28, 2018

The Capital Gazette offices house two newspapers, one of which is the oldest in the country. The Maryland Gazette was founded by a British journalist in 1727. The Capital was founded in Annapolis in 1884 by a former judge of the Anne Arundel County orphans court.

DeButts spoke to the core of the newsroom's mission: telling the stories of the people of Annapolis.

"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," he said.

More: Accused Capital Gazette shooter had sued paper, held grudge

Related: 5 killed in ‘targeted attack’ on Capital Gazette newspaper, police say

Capital Gazette shooting: 'Gentle' journalist Rob Hiaasen among victims

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley saluted the staff, who are well-known in the community. "This thing for us is very personal because the journalists who work there, a lot of them are friends of ours," he said.

"It's a thankless job and they don’t make a lot of money. It's not like the publication is some right-wing or left-wing thing. It's a publication that reports good local news from stories on local sports teams to cats stuck up a tree," he said. "I hope this is not an attack on journalism."

McKerrow also struck a defiant note that despite the bloodshed, the newsroom would not be deterred: "There will be a Capital Friday," he tweeted.

Contributing: Joel Shannon, Will Cummings. Follow Susan Miller on Twitter: @susmiller