Help the AP
The AP is confused. To quote their story:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Authorities say at least two people have been shot at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes says a person walked into the museum with a rifle and shot a guard.
Hughes says the shooter was also shot. Hughes says the victims’ conditions were not known. Both were being taken to a hospital.
U.S. Park Police gave slightly different information, saying three people had been shot.
Can anyone explain why there are three people shot, but only two victims, if the perpetrator was also shot? The AP seems to have been confused by this riddle.
Edit: And, yes, I accept that there just might be only two people shot, but the AP’s construction is silly.
Because I would hardly classify the shooter as a “victim”.
Same way that for most shootings where the shooter also dies, I generally have to subtract one to get the number of PEOPLE who were killed… I don’t count the murderer.
Comment by Scott Jacobs — 6/10/2009 @ 4:56 pm
Kevin,
I can understand your confusion, coming as you do from a world where English is a strange and exotic language. But I had no trouble understanding what the AP story said. What it said was, two persons had been shot at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and that another agency had reported three shooting victims. The fact one shooting victim just happens to be the person who shot the other shooting victim does not negate the fact he himself was shot, and is therefor a shooting victim. Being the perpetrator of an action does not render one immune to being a target of that same action.
Comment by Alan Kellogg — 6/10/2009 @ 5:27 pm
Those damn guns. You’re a victim whenever the damn things are around. Whether you’re shooting or being shot back at.
Comment by nk — 6/10/2009 @ 7:05 pm
Alan, does this mean you would count Hitler as a victim of WWII? Does “victim” mean nothing more than “got hurt”?
Comment by Kevin Murphy — 6/10/2009 @ 7:23 pm
Kevin,
In so far as the whole thing came around to bite him on the ass, Adolf Hitler was a victim of World War II. Being the instigator does not mean one can not be a victim of events one set into motion.
Besides, von Bruun was shot by another person, which makes him a shooting victim. Being a victim does not automatically entitle you to sympathy.
Comment by Alan Kellogg — 6/12/2009 @ 8:15 pm