A reporter and cameraman have been shot to death live on air in Virginia

Desktop Hippie

They were with WDBJ7 News and were doing some fairly standard fluff piece when a man walked up and shot them.

I... really can't imagine what everyone at that news station is going through right now.

Preacher

Time to reset the its too soon to talk about gun violence button. The person they were interviewing was shot in the back as well, she's in surgery. Apparently it was going to be that particular newswoman's last day they were throwing her a party.

SyphonBlue

Jesus, that video was horrifying.

syndalis

I think it is best to see who the shooter was, why the shooter did it, and what is actually going on before we start taking gun control.

It's not even a "too soon" issue, its a "what the fuck just happened" issue right now.

And this is coming from me, who is probably one of the more vocal supporters of a national database/registration, liability insurance, etc.

Johnny Chopsocky

I'm working the morning show shift at a station in Nebraska. Our newsroom is the quietest I've ever heard right now. Has been ever since the news broke.

I couldn't imagine being in the WDBJ7 newsroom, knowing what happened and still having to go on air because that's what newspeople do no matter what.

There's video of the shooting out there. Watch it if you want. I've seen it twice and I wish to never see it again.

Preacher

syndalis wrote: »

I think it is best to see who the shooter was, why the shooter did it, and what is actually going on before we start taking gun control.

It's not even a "too soon" issue, its a "what the fuck just happened" issue right now.

And this is coming from me, who is probably one of the more vocal supporters of a national database/registration, liability insurance, etc.

Yeah because of course a reporter and her cameraman could have been killed by anything by someone walking by, they could have been cheese grated to death...

syndalis

Preacher wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

I think it is best to see who the shooter was, why the shooter did it, and what is actually going on before we start taking gun control.

It's not even a "too soon" issue, its a "what the fuck just happened" issue right now.

And this is coming from me, who is probably one of the more vocal supporters of a national database/registration, liability insurance, etc.

Yeah because of course a reporter and her cameraman could have been killed by anything by someone walking by, they could have been cheese grated to death...

please stop. Whether you know it or not, this reaction is one of the reasons we don't have better gun control laws in this country.

SyphonBlue

syndalis wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

I think it is best to see who the shooter was, why the shooter did it, and what is actually going on before we start taking gun control.

It's not even a "too soon" issue, its a "what the fuck just happened" issue right now.

And this is coming from me, who is probably one of the more vocal supporters of a national database/registration, liability insurance, etc.

Yeah because of course a reporter and her cameraman could have been killed by anything by someone walking by, they could have been cheese grated to death...

please stop. Whether you know it or not, this reaction is one of the reasons we don't have better gun control laws in this country.

No actually the reason is because of people like you saying it's always too soon to talk about it. You stop. It's fucking time to talk about it.

Preacher

Bullshit, we don't have better gun laws in this country because our politicians are bought and fucking paid for, not because people get upset when people are senselessly gunned down in this country.

"Damn it I was this close to signing a bill for better background checks but than this asshole made a post on the internet and now nope not going to do it."

a5ehren

People will wring their hands for a couple days, then Trump will say something dumb and the news cycle will move on.

If Sandy Hook didn't change anything, this sure as hell isn't either.

syndalis

SyphonBlue wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

Preacher wrote: »

syndalis wrote: »

I think it is best to see who the shooter was, why the shooter did it, and what is actually going on before we start taking gun control.

It's not even a "too soon" issue, its a "what the fuck just happened" issue right now.

And this is coming from me, who is probably one of the more vocal supporters of a national database/registration, liability insurance, etc.

Yeah because of course a reporter and her cameraman could have been killed by anything by someone walking by, they could have been cheese grated to death...

please stop. Whether you know it or not, this reaction is one of the reasons we don't have better gun control laws in this country.

No actually the reason is because of people like you saying it's always too soon to talk about it. You stop. It's fucking time to talk about it.

We always talk about it. We utilize the tragedy of people dying as leverage to try and get laws through. People on the other side call it callous and double down, gun sales go up (often the very gun used in the tragedy and is brought up in the news as something that should be banned), and nothing changes.

We have this talk every. single. time.

I want change as much as you do. Possibly more so. But this is insanity. It never works. We had a school full of kids shot up and this strategy did not work.

SyphonBlue

a5ehren wrote: »

People will wring their hands for a couple days, then Trump will say something dumb and the news cycle will move on.

If Sandy Hook didn't change anything, this sure as hell isn't either.

Sadly accurate.

Phillishere

Johnny Chopsocky wrote: »

I'm working the morning show shift at a station in Nebraska. Our newsroom is the quietest I've ever heard right now. Has been ever since the news broke.

I couldn't imagine being in the WDBJ7 newsroom, knowing what happened and still having to go on air because that's what newspeople do no matter what.

There's video of the shooting out there. Watch it if you want. I've seen it twice and I wish to never see it again.

I'm a former print journalist, and I'm already getting copied on emails from former journalists I haven't talked with in a decade over this. This is going to clarify a lot of minds in the industry.

syndalis

If you want to make it stop, spend the next 10-20 years deconstructing the hold that the NRA has over our political machine.

If every dollar spent on trying to pass gun laws through our congress (that wont pass even on 80-90% popular approval) was spent on campaigns further down ticket to put state and federal congress critters in office who are not beholden to the NRA vote scoring machinery, a lot more could be done.

Attacking this is attacking the symptom, not the root issue, and trying to push legislation through an uncooperative congress who CANNOT be cooperative without risking their all-too-important grade is pissing in the wind.

OptimusZed

SyphonBlue wrote: »

a5ehren wrote: »

People will wring their hands for a couple days, then Trump will say something dumb and the news cycle will move on.

If Sandy Hook didn't change anything, this sure as hell isn't either.

Sadly accurate.

Obviously the details we don't have yet will be very important, but there's reason to think this might be different.

This wasnt just members of the general public being gunned down, it was members of the press. Media is going to see this as being about them. That might give it some staying power.

I hope the survivor pulls through, and my thoughts are definitely with the families of the victims.

Invectivus

Congratulations America, you just had a live gun murder on TV. It is beyond the point of talking about gun control.

Desktop Hippie

Johnny Chopsocky wrote: »

I'm working the morning show shift at a station in Nebraska. Our newsroom is the quietest I've ever heard right now. Has been ever since the news broke.

I couldn't imagine being in the WDBJ7 newsroom, knowing what happened and still having to go on air because that's what newspeople do no matter what.

There's video of the shooting out there. Watch it if you want. I've seen it twice and I wish to never see it again.

Yeah, I clicked on a link that I figured was safe to watch since it said the video cuts away. It was the original broadcast. They obviously meant it cuts to the studio right after they were shot.

The expression on the anchor's face is going to stay with me for a long time.

What the hell happened?! I mean they're just doing some random broadcast and he just walked right up to them and shot them. Did he know they were going to be there? Did he want the "glory" of shooting people live on TV? The whole thing just looks so utterly motiveless.

mxmarks

As a morning news director for 10 years I don't have any idea what to even feel. A lot of anger, sadness and just...I don't know.

Its impacted me way, way more than I ever would have thought, and I've been out of the business for 2 years.

Desktop Hippie

Oh dear God. The cameraman was engaged to the morning producer. She was in the control room when it happened and saw the whole thing.

AngelHedgie

syndalis wrote: »

If you want to make it stop, spend the next 10-20 years deconstructing the hold that the NRA has over our political machine.

If every dollar spent on trying to pass gun laws through our congress (that wont pass even on 80-90% popular approval) was spent on campaigns further down ticket to put state and federal congress critters in office who are not beholden to the NRA vote scoring machinery, a lot more could be done.

Attacking this is attacking the symptom, not the root issue, and trying to push legislation through an uncooperative congress who CANNOT be cooperative without risking their all-too-important grade is pissing in the wind.

It's worth reminding people that one of those pro-gun politicians whom the NRA helped get into office is the current progressive man of the hour.

SyphonBlue

Desktop Hippie wrote: »

Oh dear God. The cameraman was engaged to the morning producer. She was in the control room when it happened and saw the whole thing.

It was also her last day at the station. They had just finished celebrating at the station that morning and she had gone out to do that interview before leaving.

And she had just moved in with the station's 6 o'clock anchor

https://twitter.com/chrishurstwdbj/status/636531632137203712

Johnny Chopsocky

mxmarks wrote: »

As a morning news director for 10 years I don't have any idea what to even feel. A lot of anger, sadness and just...I don't know.

Its impacted me way, way more than I ever would have thought, and I've been out of the business for 2 years.

I can't fathom the idea of having to continue calling or punching after something like that. I... I just can't.

mojojoeo

Desktop Hippie wrote: »

Oh dear God. The cameraman was engaged to the morning producer. She was in the control room when it happened and saw the whole thing.

And the female was living with another anchor moving towards marriage....

Stuff sucks all around.

SmokeStacks

Invectivus wrote: »

Congratulations America, you just had a live gun murder on TV. It is beyond the point of talking about gun control.

Gun control will never happen. You will never get rid of guns in America. It's a pipe dream. People can argue interpretations of the Second Amendment all they like, but you will never make guns go away. Even if the NRA boogeyman or the gun lobby in general disappeared overnight you still have the collective gun nut population who won't give up the guns they have and will vote against any law that restricts their ability to get more.

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

Preacher

The sad truth of this is americans are ok with other americans dying as long as it was to gun violence by a white person. There that's the truth of it. To keep our love of guns going we'll never do anything about this.

So It Goes

SmokeStacks wrote: »

Invectivus wrote: »

Congratulations America, you just had a live gun murder on TV. It is beyond the point of talking about gun control.

Gun control will never happen. You will never get rid of guns in America. It's a pipe dream. People can argue interpretations of the Second Amendment all they like, but you will never make guns go away. Even if the NRA boogeyman or the gun lobby in general disappeared overnight you still have the collective gun nut population who won't give up the guns they have and will vote against any law that restricts their ability to get more.

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

It won't happen because of defeatist attitudes like this.

Disco11

I just wish Americans could get an outside view of the whole madness that is your gun laws/culture. The rest of the civilized world does not have these problems and there is exactly one reason why.

GONG-00

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

Preacher

Disco11 wrote: »

I just wish Americans could get an outside view of the whole madness that is your gun laws/culture. The rest of the civilized world does not have these problems and there is exactly one reason why.

The onion has a poignant not very satirical piece about americans wondering why we're the only country that has incidents like this on a regular basis. Also this guy isn't even done, he's still out there, god knows what he wants to do as an encore.

SyphonBlue

GONG-00 wrote: »

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

If true, he probably knew it was her last day, knew when she was going to be on air, and specifically did this where and when for maximum coverage.

mojojoeo

GONG-00 wrote: »

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

Sounds correct. how else would he know where they would be?

SmokeStacks

So It Goes wrote: »

SmokeStacks wrote: »

Invectivus wrote: »

Congratulations America, you just had a live gun murder on TV. It is beyond the point of talking about gun control.

Gun control will never happen. You will never get rid of guns in America. It's a pipe dream. People can argue interpretations of the Second Amendment all they like, but you will never make guns go away. Even if the NRA boogeyman or the gun lobby in general disappeared overnight you still have the collective gun nut population who won't give up the guns they have and will vote against any law that restricts their ability to get more.

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

It won't happen because of defeatist attitudes like this.

It's not a defeatist attitude, it's reality. Regardless of how you or I feel on the subject of guns, trying to create a gun free America is like throwing ice cubes at the sun.

fortis

SmokeStacks wrote: »

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

And how many of those deaths included someone other than the user?

syndalis

Disco11 wrote: »

I just wish Americans could get an outside view of the whole madness that is your gun laws/culture. The rest of the civilized world does not have these problems and there is exactly one reason why.

The problem here is that we cannot simply use the outside view because even if the laws changed overnight, we have almost as many guns as people here right now (over 90 guns to every 100 americans).

This is going to require a shift in culture, a shift in laws, a shift in mental health services... there are hundreds of things we can be doing.

But we can't just go "look at the low rate of gun violence in the UK! Why can't America do that?" Because we really really can't just do that. We have to walk back a couple hundred years of tradition and hundreds of billions of dollars of sunk costs by the citizens.

I want to get there though. I want to get there real bad. But step one is getting a legislative body willing to make the changes needed, not demanding the changes right now from what we have. Because what we have has clearly and conclusively shown that the demands of the people mean fuckall to them when it comes to this issue.

Desktop Hippie

GONG-00 wrote: »

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

Are you serious? This guy might have worked with them? He might have known that cameraman's fiance would see the murder as it happened?

SyphonBlue

Desktop Hippie wrote: »

GONG-00 wrote: »

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

Are you serious? This guy might have worked with them? He might have known that cameraman's fiance would see the murder as it happened?

That's probably exactly what he wanted.

Jazz

Read the story. Seen the footage.

I have no goddamn words. Besides RIP.

So It Goes

SmokeStacks wrote: »

So It Goes wrote: »

SmokeStacks wrote: »

Invectivus wrote: »

Congratulations America, you just had a live gun murder on TV. It is beyond the point of talking about gun control.

Gun control will never happen. You will never get rid of guns in America. It's a pipe dream. People can argue interpretations of the Second Amendment all they like, but you will never make guns go away. Even if the NRA boogeyman or hthe gun lobby in general disappeared overnight you still have the collective gun nut population who won't give up the guns they have and will vote against any law that restricts their ability to get more.

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

It won't happen because of defeatist attitudes like this.

It's not a defeatist attitude, it's reality. Regardless of how you or I feel on the subject of guns, trying to create a gun free America is like throwing ice cubes at the sun.

Because we can't get the perfect result we shouldn't try? Nah.

SmokeStacks

fortis wrote: »

SmokeStacks wrote: »

Alcohol kills three times as many people per year in this country as guns do, tobacco over ten times as many, if you're looking for controlling something to curtail preventable deaths there are better options out there.

And how many of those deaths other than the user?

I figured I'd check and see how many people are killed by drunk drivers every year, but I don't think they separate the driver and the people they kill in the statistics, instead they just label them all "alcohol related", so I couldn't tell you.

Desktop Hippie

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Desktop Hippie wrote: »

GONG-00 wrote: »

The Virginia Governor mentioned on radio station WTOP that the police know the identity of the suspect whom apparently was a former employee at the station.

Are you serious? This guy might have worked with them? He might have known that cameraman's fiance would see the murder as it happened?

That's probably exactly what he wanted.

I think I just gave up on humanity.

Disco11

syndalis wrote: »

Disco11 wrote: »

I just wish Americans could get an outside view of the whole madness that is your gun laws/culture. The rest of the civilized world does not have these problems and there is exactly one reason why.

The problem here is that we cannot simply use the outside view because even if the laws changed overnight, we have almost as many guns as people here right now (over 90 guns to every 100 americans).

This is going to require a shift in culture, a shift in laws, a shift in mental health services... there are hundreds of things we can be doing.

But we can't just go "look at the low rate of gun violence in the UK! Why can't America do that?" Because we really really can't just do that. We have to walk back a couple hundred years of tradition and hundreds of billions of dollars of sunk costs by the citizens.

I want to get there though. I want to get there real bad. But step one is getting a legislative body willing to make the changes needed, not demanding the changes right now from what we have. Because what we have has clearly and conclusively shown that the demands of the people mean fuckall to them when it comes to this issue.

Step one is to stop selling guns. You have to start somewhere and hearing the "it's too late argument" pisses me off to no end.