reporter and cameraman shot dead on live tv, police chasing suspect

[Thoth]

4 dead seems like a pretty low bar to clear to claim "mass shooting". Heck, in most American cities that's a pretty slow Saturday night.
Statistics inflation.

[Uncle Sparky]

...a live hit at a live hit.

Also, since the reporter did run from the shooter, she might still be alive if he had a knife/machete instead of a gun.

[Proteus_MST]

wow... crazy, the gun was out and pointed at her for a long moment... she never saw it. she also appears to run pretty good for a shot point blank.

That surprised me as well ... wouldn´t have assume that someone who got hit into the Torso multiple times would be able to do this.
Perhaps some adrenaline surge and shock, that supressed her pain for a short while and allowed her to take action despite already being mortally wounded.
Pity that it didn´t help her escape death

IMHO it is really perverted that he uses the Charleston church massacre as a part of his justification for the murder

[kentonio]

4 dead seems like a pretty low bar to clear to claim "mass shooting". Heck, in most American cities that's a pretty slow Saturday night.
Statistics inflation.

I think that's the point they're making. In other countries, multiple people being shot is a big thing. In America unless at least four of them die, it counts as a quiet night.

[NICE MOBIUS]

Give up Kentonio, they'll just call you a troll and claim you're taking delight in US deaths...

Best just leave them to get on with it. It's a bit like Jeremy Corbyn, the more you tell people something is a bad idea, the more they'll rally round and defend that bad idea.

[Thoth]

I think that's the point they're making. In other countries, multiple people being shot is a big thing. In America unless at least four of them die, it counts as a quiet night.

Just because Euroweenies can't take casualties doesn't make 4 dead a "mass murder". The Independant is engaging in fear mongering in an attempt to get freedom loving Americans to give up the guns they need to protect their freedoms.

[The Mad Monk]

Mass shootings are certainly not good, and get a lot more attention, but the fact is that violent crime is lower than it has been in over forty years.

Violent U.S. crime drops again, reaches 1970s level: FBI
WASHINGTON | By Ian Simpson

U.S. violent crimes including murders fell 4.4 percent in 2013 to their lowest number since the 1970s, continuing a decades-long downturn, the FBI said on Monday.

The law enforcement agency's annual Crime in the United States report showed the country had an estimated 1.16 million violent crimes last year, the lowest number since 1.09 million were recorded in 1978.

All types of violent crimes were lower, with murder and non-negligent manslaughter off 4.4 percent to 14,196, the lowest figure since 1968. Rape was down 6.3 percent and robbery fell 2.8 percent, the Federal Bureau of Investigation data showed.

James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said there was a variety of factors behind the decline in violent crime in recent decades, including the United States having the highest rate of imprisonment in the world.

He said an aging population and improved police tactics also played a role, along with the increased use of security cameras and the pervasive use of phones to take videos.

"It's hard for criminals to do anything without being caught on video," Fox said.

The violent crime rate last year was 367.9 for each 100,000 in population, down 5.1 percent from 2012. The rate has fallen every year since at least 1994, the earliest year for readily accessible FBI data, and the 2013 figure was about half the 1994 rate.

Property crimes fell 4.1 percent to an estimated 8.63 million last year, the 11th straight yearly decline. Losses from property crimes excluding arson were calculated at $16.6 billion, the FBI said.

In an analysis, the non-profit Pew Charitable Trusts said the drop in crime coincided with a decline in the prison population, with the number of U.S. prisoners down 6 percent in 2013 from its peak in 2008.

Thirty-two of the 50 states have seen a drop in crime rates as the rate of imprisonment fell, Pew said.

California notched the largest drop in imprisonment rate over the five-year period, at 15 percent, and crime was down 11 percent. The state has been under court order to reduce prison overcrowding, and voters last week approved an initiative that reduced sentences for some crimes.

[FlameFlash]

brutal... he filmed himself shooting her. first person view.

Now to wait for people to blame video games... :/

[DinoDoc]

Now to wait for people to blame video games... :/

Well there were a few stories claiming he was involved with GamerGate.

[FlameFlash]

Well there were a few stories claiming he was involved with GamerGate.

/facepalm

If it wasn't for the fact that they would blame gamers as a whole I would be totally fine with #gamergate being blamed for it.