Capital Gazette shooting victims remembered

The General Assembly has voted unanimously to name June 28 “Freedom of the Press Day” in Maryland to honor the five victims who died in the Capital Gazette shooting in Annapolis on that date last year.

The joint resolution of the two chambers passed the House of Delegates 137-0 on Wednesday and the Senate 46-0 earlier this month.

The unanimous passage by both legislative chambers means “Freedom of the Press Day” will join more than a dozen other official commemorative days — including Thurgood Marshall Day and Maryland Emancipation Day — in the state.

On June 28, 2018, a gunman attacked The Capital newspaper office in Annapolis, killing editor and columnist Rob Hiaasen, 59; Wendi Winters, 65, a community correspondent who headed special publications; editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, 61; editor and sportswriter John McNamara, 56; and Rebecca Smith, 34, a sales assistant.

— Luke Broadwater

Pikesville hotel death investigated as homicide

A death in a Pikesville hotel is being investigated as a homicide after the medical examiner discovered injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, police say.

Cleaning staff found Kenneth Ernest Gellner, 62, unconscious in his hotel room Monday just before 1 p.m. in the Howard Johnson hotel at 407 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore County Police said in a news release. He was pronounced dead by medics at the scene.

“There was no obvious cause of death when officers arrived on the scene,” police spokeswoman Ofc. Jennifer Peach said.

But later in the week the medical examiner discovered evidence of blunt force trauma.

— Libby Solomon, Baltimore Sun Media Group

Perry Hall man, 18, fatally struck on I-95, police say

A Perry Hall man was struck and killed on Interstate 95 in Baltimore County on Wednesday night after crashing into a tree, getting out of his car and lying in the roadway, police said.

Aaron Reddy, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene after being struck by traffic about 10:40 p.m. on southbound I-95 near the Joppa Road overpass, police said. Officers found Reddy’s black Honda Civic in the woods nearby, where it had struck a tree about 400 yards off the road and come to rest against a chain-link fence.

“Police believe Reddy, who was alone in his car, exited his vehicle and entered the roadway on foot,” Baltimore County Police said in a news release. “Witnesses told police they observed Reddy lying on the roadway before he was struck by oncoming traffic.”

— Colin Campbell

Man pleads guilty in stolen documents from NSA case

A Glen Burnie man pleaded guilty Thursday to willful retention of national defense information after he was accused of stealing millions of classified documents from the National Security Agency. Harold Martin, 54, was federally indicted in 2016 for allegedly stealing government property and taking classified information while he worked as a contractor with top secret security clearance for the National Security Agency.

He agreed to a nine-year prison sentence.

— Lillian Reed and Phil Davis

South River High juniors will have to retake SAT

About 450 juniors at South River High School will have to retake the SAT after a fire alarm upended the exam Wednesday morning, said Bob Mosier, a spokesperson for Anne Arundel County schools. The alarm sounded at 10:20 a.m. due to what administrators believe was a fire in the boys’ locker room, said Principal William T. Myers in a letter sent to South River families. Anne Arundel County fire crews later determined there was no fire, rather sparks from electrical work.

— Lauren Lumpkin, Baltimore Sun Media Group