Not using Texas shooter’s name a good decision

Published 10:41 am Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Another mass shooting.

This time, church worshipers became the victims when a shooter fired 450 rounds at helpless people, killing 26 in the small town of Sutherland Springs.

We are intrigued that Texas law enforcement officials have decided to stop referring to the shooter by name.

Email newsletter signup

“We do not want to glorify him and what he has done,” Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said at a briefing.

This decision may not stop the next mass shooting, but it can’t hurt.

On social media, others have taken to same tactic, wary of giving a mass murderer name recognition in hopes of stifling the next mass shooting.

“Stop making rampage mass murderers famous,” read a post on Facebook and Twitter, along with a blotted out photo of the Texas shooter.

It can’t hurt, particularly on social media.

There’s a responsibility for mainstream news organizations to report who killers are and information about details like, how they obtained an assault weapon. But there’s a point at which their name doesn’t matter.

The focus should be the victims, and the pain friends, families and communities are suffering.