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# Capital Gazette reporter E.B. ‘Pat’ Furgurson III dies at 70
- URL: https://capitolcommunicator.com/capitol-communicator-i-e-b-pat-furgurson-iii-obituary/
- Published: 2024-12-01T13:31:36.000Z
- Updated: 2024-12-01T19:20:13.000Z
- Author: Jeffrey Davis
- Tags: People, Media, Maryland News, #Import 2026-10-08 18:54

**E.B. “Pat” Furgurson III**, a dedicated journalist in Annapolis whose life was steeped in newsprint and storytelling, including covering the newsroom murder of five colleagues, died Nov. 25 at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis. He was 70.

Born in San Diego, California, he was the son of **Ernest B. “Pat” Furgurson Jr**., a Baltimore Sun foreign correspondent, and **Mary Louise Stallings** Furgurson, a library worker. According to [an obituary in the Capital Gazette](https://www.capitalgazette.com/2024/11/30/pat-furgurson-obituary-capital-gazette-reporter/?ref=capitolcommunicator.com), Furgurson’s grandfather worked as a newspaper printer, and as a child, Furgurson lived in Moscow for almost three years while his father worked as a correspondent.

After years in Europe, the family returned to the Washington, D.C., area. Furgurson attended Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where he played football and ran track. Before entering journalism, he worked in the restaurant industry.

Joining The Capital in the late 1990s following an earlier career in the restaurant industry, Furgurson became a cornerstone of the newsroom, covering southern Anne Arundel County. Colleagues remembered him as a mentor to younger writers, always ready to share insights and expertise. Outside work, he was passionate about blues music and barbecue.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/16/5016dd29-aeff-4565-a68b-cdbb78bc58e6/content/images/2026/10/5-shot-dead-225x300.jpg)

Page one replica at memorial

On June 28, 2018, Furgurson was across the street when a gunman blasted through glass doors and attacked the newspaper’s office, killing five colleagues: **Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith**, and **Wendi Winters**. With reporters **Chase Cook** and **Josh McKerrow.** Furgurson used his truck to set up a makeshift newsroom in a parking garage across the street so reporters could gather information and document the deadliest attack on an American newsroom.

Bylines for the story, headlined “5 shot dead at The Capital” and appearing the next day, included **Chase Cook, Phil Davis, Selene San Felice, E.B. Furgurson III, Rachael Pacella, Danielle Ohl, Joshua McKerrow, Paul W. Gillespie, David Broughton** and **Bob Hough**.

The Capital staff’s bravery and same-day coverage of the shooting earned them a special Pulitzer citation in 2019, and Furgurson appeared on the Time Magazine Person of the Year cover along with the newspaper staff.

[A GoFundMe account](https://gofund.me/9bd1000f?ref=capitolcommunicator.com) was set up by San Felice to help Fergurson’s wife, Becky, and son, Jesse, with medical bills and funeral costs.

*Main photo, left to right: David Simon, journalist and creator of “The Wire,” and author Laura Lippman with Pat Furgurson at the dedication of “The Guardians of the First Amendment” memorial in Annapolis on June 28, 2021\. Photo by Jeffrey Davis.*