28 June 2018 — 2240 mdt

Murders at the Annapolis Capital Gazette

Earlier today, Jarrod Ramos, a man who didn’t like a story about his adventures in court, (allegedly) walked into the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, MD, with a shotgun. He killed at least five, wounded several more, then was captured, alive and apparently not injured. Thus far, it appears he acted alone, and that his motive was personal, not political.

Statistically, the revenge murder of an editor or reporter is a rare event. It is almost always an independent event, not part of a conspiracy or a movement. That it’s rare and random, with little or no predictive value, does not make it less awful, but it’s awfulness is of little use for inferring profound lessons from the event.

I urge my fellow online commentators to remember that only the shooter, (allegedly) Mr. Ramos, has blood on his hands. No one else is to blame.