Another senseless mass shooting, this one less than an hour from our nation’s Capital, has had a profound impact on at least one FBS program.
Tuesday afternoon, a man later identified as 38-year-old Jarrod Warren Ramos opened fire inside the newsroom of the Capital Gazette, a newspaper in the Maryland capital of Annapolis. Five people were killed and several others gravely wounded in what was described as a targeted attack launched by a man who had sued the newspaper and one of its columnists for defamation in 2012.
Annapolis is also the home of the United States Naval Academy. A few hours after the massacre, the service academy’s football program and its head coach offered their deepest condolences and prayers to all of those impacted by the day’s events.
Sending our deepest condolences and prayers out to all the victims and their families.
— Navy Football (@NavyFB) June 28, 2018
I want to send out my deepest condolences and prayers to all the victims and their families from the tragedy that happened in our great city today.
— Ken Niumatalolo (@ken_niumatalolo) June 28, 2018
Bill Wagner, who covers Navy sports in general and the Midshipmen football program in particular, took to Twitter to confirm to his readers that he is indeed okay, “but many of my colleagues and friends are not.”
To all my Twitter follows. I am okay. Thank God I was not at the office when this horrible incident occurred. However, many of my colleagues and friends are not okay and that is solely where my thoughts are right now. Please do not attempt to contact me via text or phone call.
— Bill Wagner (@BWagner_CapGaz) June 28, 2018