This morning,
as Jean & I were watching the morning news with Charlie Rose on CBS, the
local network affiliate broke in with “Breaking News.”
There had been a shooting in the West
University / Houston area, beginning at not quite half past six o’clock AM.
It took
place less than a mile from where I once lived on Milton Street with my eldest
son Nick.
For the
next five hours, all network broadcasts on five networks were suspended in
favor of the local affiliate’s coverage of this event.
And for
the most of those hours, no local reporters informed the public of facts
verified by the officials handling the situation. Instead, we were fed suppositions, theories, what
ifs, musings, descriptions of what we could clearly see for ourselves on the
screen & interviews of traumatized witnesses anxious for their less than 15
minutes of fame.
In any
time, but especially in these times, this was an important story – but it was a
story that needed to be reported responsibly & with verified
information.
Not observations from a
newscaster looking at the screen & explaining what the helicopter above was
filming.
Nine
people were wounded in this attack. At
first it was seven & then six & now the police have confirmed
nine. Three have been released from
local hospitals.
The
stories about the shooter, who was killed, vary from station to station. I am still not sure what this man’s problem
was. He was a lawyer. And clearly, at least temporarily, deranged. With no ties to terrorist activities. At least not today.
And he
is dead.
He shot
at random. As people were leaving to go
to the gym, to head in for work, on their way to take their kids to school.
There
is a legitimate story in this tragedy.
Perhaps several – the stories of the nine victims. The story of how this man decided to take
guns to his car & shoot at random individuals.
I heard
one local newscaster praise the police for exercising caution before going into
the suspect’s apartment, “to make sure they knew what they were dealing with.”
If only
newscasters & journalists would do the same.
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