Yesterday, two members of the WDBJ-TV team — a reporter and a cameraman — were tragically shot to death on live television. Franklin County Police, with assistance from the Virginia State Police, apprehended a man in relation to the shooting. A former coworker, the suspect, who has since died, live-tweeted the shooting and posted a graphic video of the shooting on social media.
The loss of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward has been devastating for their loved ones and their viewers. And the presence of such violence so close to home is shocking. We are horrified when we hear news of a shooting anywhere, but such news becomes especially horrific when it happens in our backyard — when gun violence becomes a reality in our own lives.
While our emotional response makes sense, based on current shooting trends, a shooting near us is not that surprising. This past July, Washington Post writer Christopher Ingraham noted 204 mass shootings in the first 204 days of 2015. He wrote, “The shootings happen so often, the circumstances become so familiar, that we tune them out.” Occasionally shootings that stand out — nine dead in a black church in Charleston; a shooting that happens on live television — draw more attention, for their gravity or the circumstances that lead to them. But the prevalence of these events in general suggests a much scarier trend than the terrifying nature of this instance alone. In just 2007, the horrific Virginia Tech Massacre occurred. Between that time and now, not much has changed here in Virginia, legislatively or culturally, to suggest a shooting in 2015 would not happen.
Of course, we do not yet know enough details about this tragedy to know how best to respond, and we should not rush to conclusions over what the correct response is. But the upward trend in mass shootings, rampage shootings, active shooter events, or whatever label a shooting receives is startling. We are devastated by a tragedy that is both proximate and exceptionally lurid. But this tragedy does not stand alone: a 2014 FBI study of 160 active-shooter events since 2000 showed an increase in shootings over time. While we may not have the answer as to why, these incidents do not exist in a vacuum. Yesterday’s deaths are independently tragic, and grappling with this incident will take time. But we should not isolate our grief, or we will risk more shootings in the future.
Read More
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | YesterdayInstead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
EDITORIAL: Celebrating and reflecting on The Cavalier Daily’s independence
By Editorial Board | April 18, 2024Our independence grants us the ability to ask the hard questions and to say what University representatives cannot.
ARRAS: U.Va. must revise the Sexual Assault Prevention Training module
By Aoife Arras | April 17, 2024In addition to its failures in interactivity, the module lacks details specific to the University and discusses key concepts in universal terms.
