Today in Gainseville Florida, a 24 year old man killed one person, shot 5 others, then killed himself in his red pickup truck.
6 hours after the shooting, we know his name, we know he has a criminal record and a history of mental problems. The person killed was his father. His criminal arrests include a drug history and the kind of related crimes you would expect. He was just recently released from a treatment facility. The people he shot were not strangers.
He was a black man and his picture is already online. Perhaps the wall of media silence is coming down.
The long, rectangular house with beige siding and black shutters on Southeast 10th Avenue is worn by time. Half a dozen old cars, chairs, empty Old Milwaukee beer cans and exercise equipment were scattered across the front lawn Monday, while laundry hung in the backyard from a line above a barking mocha-colored pit bull.
(That’s one great job of reporting)
So far, no national news coverage has mentioned:
– that the shooter killed himself
– that he killed his father
– that he had a history of drug and mental health issues
– that he was black
But every report has mentioned that his pickup truck was red.
Just heard this story on Fox News…they did mention his history of drug abuse, that he killed his father and that he killed himself…but did not mention he was black.
Interesting quote on this from a blog this morning: “Must be an election coming up. Shootings are being reported nationally now.”
And perhaps pigs this day — this happy day! — became airborne.
All I care about is they get the color of the pickup correct.
Come on, admit it, you would be devastated if they said the pickup was red and it ultimately was reveled the pickup was grey.
Don’t be surprised if, conjoined to this story, CBS or CNN starts ranting about the amount of money the government spends on mental health care. They will find a couple of social workers to say that there just isn’t enough funding, and if the Republicans had approved more spending this shooting would never have happened.
I just need to know if the pickup was Candy Apple Red, Burgundy, and/or Carmine. I need to know if the truck was Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. I am anxiously searching the news and I cannot find it anywhere.