Roanoke

We all agree that the shooting in Roanoke was a horrible thing, but honestly, do we think many of us will remember it a year from now? Some of us may, if only because the murderer did something unique. If it weren't for that (and maybe even with that) most of us will still discard the story to the recesses of our minds and never remember it again. Stories like that have become too normal. We see them every day on the news, every time we turn on our television: more bombings in the Middle East, more local murders, more national higher-profile murders, more plane crashes, more [insert horrible thing here].

The difference about the Roanoke shooting is that 1) it was targeted at specific individuals, even though another woman was caught in it, and 2) the killer live Tweeted it and posted his video to FaceBook. This seems to me like an obvious cry for attention, and I'm wondering why we are giving it to him. He undoubtedly wanted to create maximum shock. I'm not suggesting that the shooting shouldn't be aired on the news; I'm all for everyone knowing everything. What I've noticed is we have a habit of focusing on the murderer instead of the victims. The victims are given a line or two in each article, and then the rest of the article is all about the shooter. I understand that it's sensationalism and everyone wants to know what would make someone want to go kill two people and injure another, but it seems like we aren't really acknowledging that two people lost their lives. Two innocent people are dead and a bunch more lives are irreparably damaged because of one man.