USC grad praises journalists' passion after colleagues are killed in newsroom shooting

He isn't ready to talk about it.

That's what Jimmy DeButts wrote on Twitter after five people were killed and more were injured Thursday during a shooting in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette — where DeButts works.

"Devastated & heartbroken. Numb," is how DeButts started a tweet just hours after the shooting in the office of the Annapolis, Maryland newspaper, where he is an assistant editor. "I’m in no position to speak."

But the University of South Carolina graduate had something important he wanted to write about. His colleagues.

DeButts heaped praise on his fellow journalists and hailed their role in the community. He's worked as a journalist for nearly 25 years.

He got started while he was a student at USC in the early 1990s, and covered the football team and served as sports editor for The Gamecock.

In 2015, he reminisced about his start in journalism in 1992, when he was covering the Gamecocks. While seasoned reporters asked questions of then-South Carolina football coach Sparky Woods, DeButts reflected that he was "too timid to speak."

After graduating and leaving Columbia, DeButts continued covering sports, working for the Danville Register & Bee, the Augusta Chronicle and the Birmingham Post-Herald. He said that's where his career as a sports reporter ended in 2005 when the paper went out of business.

"Steve Spurrier's reign as Gamecocks football coach was beginning as my days of covering sports were ending," DeButts wrote in a Capital Gazette story, recapping the growth of his career and the Gamecocks football program.

Although his responsibilities changed, DeButts' focus as a journalist did not waver during years as a business reporter and editor before joining the Capital Gazette in 2012.

He shared his appreciation for his colleagues, their efforts and fine work honed by their journalistic focus after the deadly shooting.

"Just know @capgaznews reporters & editors give all they have every day. There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays — just a passion for telling stories from our community," DeButts wrote in a string of tweets. "We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment."

The USC alum describes a struggle, but says it's something worth fighting for.

"Please understand, we do all this to serve our community," DeButts tweeted.

In his retrospective on how much the Gamecocks program has grown since he "cut (his) teeth as a budding journalist," DeButts credited much of that to former coach Steve Spurrier. While he chalked some of the success up to Spurrier's swagger, he pointed to his own confidence as critical to successfully enduring a career in journalism.

"I have confidence – something you aren't born with but sometimes have to remind yourself of," DeButts wrote.

He did that in the past from a press box in Williams-Brice Stadium. He did it again after Thursday's horrific events. Using social media, DeButts let the world see that even if his heart was broken, his faith in his colleague's and their work was not.

"The reporters & editors put their all into finding the truth. That is our mission. Will always be," DeButts tweeted.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 8:36 PM.