The Washington Post was attacked on social media Monday for its initial headline about a University of Virginia shooting story. It stated that the suspect gunman, who is accused of shooting three football players and injuring two others, had a troubled childhood but later thrived.
This is a real headline from the Washington Post pic.twitter.com/8rORU42c2c
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) November 14, 2022
Police say that the headline was changed to “Suspected U.Va. gunman was examined by threat assessment team for a weapon” sometime after Tuesday, 12:10 p.m.
Although the Post reported that it had been updated at both 12:15 and 1:15 p.m., there is no note in the story detailing what was changed.
Monday’s statement by TheBlaze from The Post stated that the headline had been changed after the press conference when more information was available. This is a developing story.
“You have to be kidding”
Many people on Twitter weren’t happy with the headline of the Post’s original headline. It stated that suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. had “flourished” from a “troubled” childhood.
Cabot Phillips, a senior editor at Daily Wire, tweeted: “Just an unbelievable headline by the Washington Post regarding the mass shooter UVA. You have to be kidding …”
BlazeTV’s media critic Rob Eno mocked the Post, saying that “democracy dies when you hide previous headlines without [an] editor note… To you, this is a classic case of media lying to me.”
Others were also in agreement:
One commenter stated, “So yea, whoever wrote that headline should be fired.” “Didn’t realize flourishing meant killing people. Washington Post doing it again
Another user responded, “Talk about a bizarre headline.” Is he going to ‘flourish’ in prison?
Another commenter said to the Post, “With headlines such as this, @TheBabylonBee will be out of business.” This is @Salon-level stupidity.
Another user said that it was “one of the most disgusting headlines” he’d ever seen printed. Shame on @washingtonpost
“This man allegedly killed three people and shot five more. The @washingtonpost described him as someone who ‘flourished. Another commenter called him “pathetic.”
Do you have any other suggestions?
The Associated Press reported that Jones, a former football player at the school, was taken into custody Monday after a lengthy manhunt lasting more than 13 hours following the shooting on Charlottesville’s campus. ESPN reported that Jones was charged with three counts each of second-degree murder as well as three counts for using a handgun to commit a crime.
According to ESPN, the players who were shot and killed in the shootings were junior receiver Lavel Davy Jr. from Dorchester, South Carolina; junior receiver Devin Chandler from Huntersville, North Carolina; and D’Sean Perry, a junior defensive linebacker/defensive end, both of Miami. School President Jim Ryan stated this during a Monday news conference.
All three of the UVA shooting victims are football players:
Devin Chandler (from Virginia Beach)
D’Sean Perry
Lavel Davis pic.twitter.com/GgYFzDwP5G
— Dan Kennedy 13News Now (@13DanKennedy) November 14, 2022
Ryan reported that two unidentified students were also shot and taken to the hospital, according to the sports network. Ryan stated that one student was in stable condition and the other was critically ill.
According to ESPN, the shooting occurred on a charter bus that was returning to campus from Washington, D.C., where students had attended a play.
