'Please help us': Intern at Maryland newspaper pleaded for assistance on Twitter during shooting

Capital Gazette

An intern at an Annapolis, Maryland newspaper tweeted for "help" amid an active shooter situation in his newsroom.

• An intern at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland tweeted for help amid a shooting in his newsroom. 
• "Active shooter 888 Bestgate please help us," he tweeted.
• According to intial reports, there have been multiple fatalities as a result of the newspaper shooting and one suspect is in custody. 

An intern at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland tweeted for help amid a shooting at the newspaper offices. 

Anthony Messenger, a summer intern in the newsroom, tweeted, "Active shooter 888 Bestgate please help us." 

Messenger is a rising senior at Salisbury University, majoring in media production with a minor in athletic coaching, according to his profile on the newspaper website. 

Though he didn't tweet anything else, Messenger is reportedly safe, according to a tweet from reporter Danielle Ohl.

"I don't have many details right now. My colleagues Phil Davis, Chase Cook, Anthony Messenger, Rick Hutzell and Selene San Felice are ok," Ohl tweeted. "Rachael Pacella is in the hospital with an injury."

According to intial reports, there have been multiple fatalities as a result of the shooting and one suspect is in custody. 

One of the newsroom's reporters, Phil Davis, tweeted about the shooting as he waited to be interviewed by police. 

"A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead," he said. "Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can't say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad."

Davis added: "There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload."

The Capital Gazette claims to be one of the oldest publications in the country and traces its roots back to the Maryland Gazette, which was established in 1727.