Shot by a crossbow - the media twists

Bill Mattocks

Bill Mattocks

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
I was just going to post the story itself, but when I read all the various twists and spins the media put on the story, I decided to post about that instead...

Here's the deal. A couple kids were throwing rocks at passing cars from an overpass in San Diego. Someone shot one of the kids in the stomach with a crossbow bolt from one of the cars they were throwing rocks at. Kid is in the hospital with non life-threatening wounds, no one has been arrested for anything as of yet.

Please understand if you did not know already that people can and have been killed by rocks thrown from overpasses; it happens all the time. So even if it's a 'prank', it can and has been deadly. This is not joke, it's life-threatening if you have a rock thrown down on your car as you drive underneath at high speed. We're not talking broken windshield and scratched paint, we're talking rock through the windshield and dead person inside.

Now read the headlines. Ranges everywhere from 'child shot with arrow in drive-by shooting' to 'crossbow attack' to 'child shot for throwing rocks at a car'. All of them paint the child as the victim. Not that I think it is appropriate to shoot anyone with a crossbow for throwing rocks from an overpass, but none of them see to spend much time discussing what it was that this child was doing that would have resulted in being shot with a crossbow...

Yeah, the media never slants anything...


http://news.google.com/news/more?hl=en&gl=us&q=crossbow&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ncl=dcr4y0RKPF11FvMa10JZxqZBiZ-hM&ei=dCxeTpzeHcnh0QHb9viYAw&sa=X&oi=news_result&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CDgQqgIwAA

Teen shot by crossbow in drive-by
Ninemsn - ‎6 hours ago‎
By ninemsn staff A San Diego boy has been taken to hospital after a passing driver fired an arrow into his stomach. The teen is believed to have been throwing rocks at passing cars in the Linda Vista neighbourhood with a friend when they got into a ...
San Diego boy throwing rocks hit by crossbow
Forbes - ‎7 hours ago‎
AP , 08.31.11, 12:44 AM EDT SAN DIEGO -- San Diego police say a 16-year-old boy throwing rocks at a sport utility vehicle was struck by a crossbow arrow fired by a passenger. Police say the shirtless boy and a friend were throwing rocks at a black ...
San Diego teen shot with arrow in dispute, police say
Los Angeles Times - ‎20 hours ago‎
A San Diego teenager was recovering Tuesday after being shot with an arrow fired by another teen in a dispute, police said. The incident began with two teenagers throwing rocks at two other teens riding in a Toyota RAV4 in the Linda Vista neighborhood. ...
Teen Throwing Rocks at Cars Shot With Crossbow
Newser - Rob Quinn - ‎2 hours ago‎
(Newser) – Stone Age missiles met medieval weaponry on the streets of San Diego yesterday—and lost. A 16-year-old boy and a friend were throwing rocks at passing cars when a passenger in an SUV fired a crossbow bolt at them, ...
Man Uses Crossbow to Shoot Boy Throwing Rocks at Cars
Gather.com - Evalynn J. Saeyang - ‎8 hours ago‎
A man used a crossbow on a 16-year-old boy who thought it would be entertaining to throw rocks at cars. The shirtless teen was with another boy at the time. The incident occurred in the Linda Vista neighborhood in San Diego. The teens "were throwing ...
Click to expand...
 
there are so many questions and comments that come to mind....
Pity for the rock thrower is actually not one of them...

Shows how sick 'journalism' has become.
 
granfire said:
there are so many questions and comments that come to mind....
Pity for the rock thrower is actually not one of them...
Click to expand...

My first reaction on reading the story was that the kid got what he had coming. But of course, that's just a visceral reaction. In reality, I do not support vigilante justice. Additionally, one must wonder how one would feel if the crossbow bolt had missed and hit an innocent person, or if the kid throwing the rocks had been killed instead of injured, etc. I suspect that the rock-throwing didn't mean to kill anyone by throwing rocks, but whether or not he intended it, he certainly might have; throwing rocks off an overpass can and has killed people before.

Shows how sick 'journalism' has become.
Click to expand...

Well, it does show that they present the part of the story they want in order to guide the reader to an opinion, instead of just presenting the facts. All of the headlines are 'technically' correct; but each paints a different picture, doesn't it? Depends on the slant of the newspaper or journalist in question as to how they present it. And I'm not aiming this at the left or the right; they all do it.
 
Piss poor coverage, but, let's face it, 'teen throws rocks at cars, gets shot' is 'dog bites man' level head line, and 'teen shot with crossbow' is 'man bites dog'. The media doesn't need to report, it needs to SELL.
 
cdunn said:
Piss poor coverage, but, let's face it, 'teen throws rocks at cars, gets shot' is 'dog bites man' level head line, and 'teen shot with crossbow' is 'man bites dog'. The media doesn't need to report, it needs to SELL.
Click to expand...

Very good point!
 
Bill Mattocks said:
My first reaction on reading the story was that the kid got what he had coming. But of course, that's just a visceral reaction. In reality, I do not support vigilante justice. Additionally, one must wonder how one would feel if the crossbow bolt had missed and hit an innocent person, or if the kid throwing the rocks had been killed instead of injured, etc. I suspect that the rock-throwing didn't mean to kill anyone by throwing rocks, but whether or not he intended it, he certainly might have; throwing rocks off an overpass can and has killed people before.



Well, it does show that they present the part of the story they want in order to guide the reader to an opinion, instead of just presenting the facts. All of the headlines are 'technically' correct; but each paints a different picture, doesn't it? Depends on the slant of the newspaper or journalist in question as to how they present it. And I'm not aiming this at the left or the right; they all do it.
Click to expand...

well, if I had been in the area I would have wanted to know who on earth carries a loaded cross bow around, handy to shoot little cretins...paired with a 'damn, if he shot that from a moving vehicle, that was a damn good shot!'
 
granfire said:
well, if I had been in the area I would have wanted to know who on earth carries a loaded cross bow around, handy to shoot little cretins...paired with a 'damn, if he shot that from a moving vehicle, that was a damn good shot!'
Click to expand...
I think I might have to get a new archery coach...
Seriously tho I thought this story actually happened about 2 years ago, unless this is a new one.
 
MaxiMe said:
I think I might have to get a new archery coach...
Seriously tho I thought this story actually happened about 2 years ago, unless this is a new one.
Click to expand...

I believe it is new. The AP news report and all the links in the Google News search I put above all seem to indicate that it just happened.
 
Bill Mattocks said:
My first reaction on reading the story was that the kid got what he had coming. But of course, that's just a visceral reaction. In reality, I do not support vigilante justice. Additionally, one must wonder how one would feel if the crossbow bolt had missed and hit an innocent person, or if the kid throwing the rocks had been killed instead of injured, etc. I suspect that the rock-throwing didn't mean to kill anyone by throwing rocks, but whether or not he intended it, he certainly might have; throwing rocks off an overpass can and has killed people before.



Well, it does show that they present the part of the story they want in order to guide the reader to an opinion, instead of just presenting the facts. All of the headlines are 'technically' correct; but each paints a different picture, doesn't it? Depends on the slant of the newspaper or journalist in question as to how they present it. And I'm not aiming this at the left or the right; they all do it.
Click to expand...

Regardless, I'm guessing that kid (or his friend) won't throw any more rocks at cars.

And yes, people have been severely injured and/or killed by thrown rocks. Recently. In San Diego. So I tend to think it's a pretty serious incident as well.

What the shooter was doing driving around with a loaded crossbow is indeed another matter, and I certainly don't condone his actions. Pretty rough neighborhood with lots of gang activity... he may have been on his way to some other drive-by crime (or it could have been for "protection"... who knows?)

And for MaxiMe... nope, this one was ~2 days ago.
 
Nomad said:
Regardless, I'm guessing that kid (or his friend) won't throw any more rocks at cars.

And yes, people have been severely injured and/or killed by thrown rocks. Recently. In San Diego. So I tend to think it's a pretty serious incident as well.

What the shooter was doing driving around with a loaded crossbow is indeed another matter, and I certainly don't condone his actions. Pretty rough neighborhood with lots of gang activity... he may have been on his way to some other drive-by crime (or it could have been for "protection"... who knows?)

And for MaxiMe... nope, this one was ~2 days ago.
Click to expand...

cross bows are not known for rapid fire....(watching CSI marathon...sorry)
 
I owned a crossbow when I was younger, they`re legal to hunt with during the archery season in Ohio. Odds are he didn`t have it loaded driving around. A hunting crossbow doesn`t take any time to load. I`m assuming he stopped the car, loaded it, (about 10 seconds if that) and let fly out the window. Shooting out of a moving vehichle would just be too tough. Just my opinion, your milage may vary.
 
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