Bill Belichick Says His ‘Heart Goes Out’ to ‘Capital Gazette’ Victims

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick mourned the loss of five employees from his home newspaper the Capital Gazette, after they were killed by a gunman last week.

Belichick — who grew up in the Annapolis, Maryland, area — called the Gazette his hometown paper in a statement released on Friday night, Pro Football Talk reported.

“My family and I have enjoyed special relationships with many great people who have worked for the newspaper,” Belichick said in his statement “My heart goes out to the victims, their families and the entire Annapolis community for this terrible and senseless tragedy.”

The newspaper employees lost their lives when a man with a long-standing feud with the paper entered its offices and opened fire.

The shooter has had a grudge against the paper since 2011 when the Capital Gazette published a story about his arrest and ensuing court case for a charge of criminal harassment. The paper published a story chronicling his stalking and harassment of a former girlfriend. He spent years attacking the paper on social media and the woman who claimed to have been stalked by the suspect warned he was a danger.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.