Several people shot outside Empire State Building

[CloneIce]

Before the Colorado shooting, how may new reports did you hear about people getting shot on a weekly basis? Next to zero.


Guess what random people were still getting shot.

Pretty much every time I picked up the KC Star. But random shootings always make the news because, well, they are random. Very uncommon as usually shootings are domestic or crime related rather than some guy just shooting strangers. Not sure what news you read but it is completely normal to report a person shooting random people on the street.

[chuckd4735]

Ambush - A surprise attack by people lying in wait in a concealed position.

I'll wait for the police report before suggesting it was an "ambush".

Maybe "ambush" isn't the best term. What I'm trying to say is that a lot of shootings typically involve some kind of motive. The Colorado shooting didn't really have a motive behind it and those who were shot and killed were victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that seems to be the case here as well. Shootings involving people being in the wrong place at the wrong time are different then shootings stemming from a argument/disagreement of sorts.

[DistrictCyclone]

Aggie's right; shootings happen dozens if not hundreds of times a year in each major city in the country. Just a few weeks ago, 5 people (including 2 bystanders) were involved in a shooting at one of the busiest intersections in DC...and it barely stayed in the local headlines for more than a couple days.

[CyArob]

10 people shot including gunman. gunman dead, 1 victim dead, 8 injured.

[LindenCy]

Here is Chicago last night: 19 people shot in overnight shootings across Chicago - chicagotribune.com

[CLONECONES]

Here is Chicago last night: 19 people shot in overnight shootings across Chicago - chicagotribune.com

right and this happens in every city... but if there was a gunman outside the chicago BOT firing at randoms walking down the street, i guarantee it would be national news

[DistrictCyclone]

Here is Chicago last night: 19 people shot in overnight shootings across Chicago - chicagotribune.com

"Oh, but they're probably just gang members so it doesn't count" -- media consensus

[3TrueFans]

right and this happens in every city... but if there was a gunman outside the chicago BOT firing at randoms walking down the street, i guarantee it would be national news

challenegeaccepted.jpg

[LindenCy]

right and this happens in every city... but if there was a gunman outside the chicago BOT firing at randoms walking down the street, i guarantee it would be national news

I agree with you, and it is a different sort of crime, but it is sad that every weekend there are multiple shootings that aren't reported much, sometimes even locally.

[jahfg]

If this happened away from a national landmark we wouldn't even hear about it. National news is going to report every shooting for a while. Just how media works.

What a freakin' joke.

[jahfg]

Look at everybody go on the defensive. Context does matter.

[Angie]

I was just going to post this.

Does anyone else think that a lot of "monkey-see, monkey-do" has to play into these? It's getting old hearing about innocent people dying in these public mass shootings.

I think the shooters see the other shooters getting national media attention. I don't know if it's the right answer, as it doesn't honor the victims, but it seems like we shouldn't splatter these all over the news and see if that curbs some of the activity.

It's just like a lot of high schools - there's a common phenomenon where one student commits suicide, gets a lot of attention, and so then there is a rash of other suicides. It's awful, but it happens.

[cyfanatic]

At least 19 injured in shootings across city Thursday night - Chicago Sun-Times

[GrindingAway]

The timing of this article in The Onion was pretty poor.

Nation Celebrates Full Week Without Deadly Mass Shooting | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Copying here since I guess it will get taken down soon...

NEW YORK—Cheers filled the streets and American flags waved triumphantly through the air today as the nation turned out in full force to celebrate an entire week having passed since the last time a madman opened fire on innocent civilians in some kind of fatal mass shooting. “We did it, folks! We banded together and managed to go seven whole days without killing our fellow Americans in a senseless murdering spree!” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said in a speech to jubilant throngs gathered in Times Square. “Yes, some people were shot this week, but not in a random, highly public, viscerally disturbing way and—most importantly—not all in one place, by one psychopath. Maybe one day we can live in a society where abominable large-scale gun violence stays out of the national headlines for a whole month even!” At press time, federal authorities had issued a reminder to all Americans that a lot can happen in 24 hours, “so let’s not get too excited yet.”

[ISUAgronomist]

Not an act of random crime:

Fifty-three year-old Johnson lost his job last year during a corporate downsizing at Hazan Imports. He returned to his office Friday morning to target his former supervisor.

Two dead, nine wounded in shooting near the Empire State Building | The Lookout - Yahoo! News