Sportswriter John McNamara Among Those Killed In Capital Gazette Shooting

Thursday afternoon, a man named Jarrod Ramos, who had once filed a defamation suit against the Capital Gazette, allegedly walked into the publication's newsroom and opened fire, killing five journalists. John McNamara, a sportswriter for the newspaper, is among the dead.

McNamara, who was 56 years old, had a number of different roles at the publication - including writing about Maryland sports. McNamara authored two books about his alma mater - one about the program's football team and one about its basketball team.

The Baltimore Sun's Andrea K. McDaniels notes that McNamara had a great relationship with then-Maryland coach Gary Williams.

He loved covering sports. During the 2010 NCAA basketball tournament, he took a long walk around Spokane, Wash., with Gary Williams, the University of Maryland coach. It was just John and Gary, and John remarked later how great a job he had to be able to spend one-on-one time with a future Hall of Fame coach.

McNamara is one of five people who were killed - along with Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters. The gunman was reportedly armed with a shotgun and smoke grenades during the attack.

One of McNamara's friends, Marc Carig of The Athletic, posted a thoughtful tribute in his honor.

Maryland also posted a tribute in McNamara's honor. The school says he'll "always" be a Terrapin.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected by this awful tragedy.