Friday marks sixth anniversary of Capital Gazette mass shooting, quiet remembrance held in Annapolis

BALTIMORE -- Six years have passed since Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman and John McNamara were killed during an attack on the Capital Gazette newspaper office in Annapolis .

On June 28, 2018, a gunman forced his way into the newspaper's Annapolis office, opening fire and killing five staffers. It's the largest mass shooting of journalists in the nation's history. The shooter was handed multiple life sentences in September 2021.

Last year, a public wreath-laying ceremony was held for the fifth anniversary of the tragedy at the Guardians of the First Amendment Memorial, where five pillars stand representing those killed.

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said the families asked for this year's acknowledgment to be "more solemn."

A private moment of silence, organized by the Gazette's parent company the Baltimore Sun, was held Friday morning for the victims'  families, friends and colleagues at the memorial. Five wreaths were laid there.

"Please take the opportunity to visit the memorial and reflect on the importance of our First Amendment freedoms and the role a free press plays in our democratic republic," Buckley said in a statement. "And please take a moment to remember these victims - and all those in our Annapolis community whose lives have been forever changed by gun violence."

The memorial was dedicated on this day three years ago.

Now, there are more efforts to honor the victims' memory. The Gazette reports the Annapolis City Mayor's Office is set to submit an application to the state to dedicate a highway sign to Fischman, Hiaasen, McNamara, Smith and Winters.