'Lovesick' is not how you describe the Maryland shooter, the internet says
On Tuesday, the lives of several families changed forever. Austin Rollins, 17, opened fire inside Great Mills High School with a semi-automatic handgun shooting Jaelynn Willey, 16, and a 14-year-old boy.
The victim’s families want the Maryland shooter to come to justice, and this starts with the way the media is referring to him. An ABC News headline (since changed) about the shooting did not sit well with the online community and survivors. The publication referred to him a “Lovesick teenager,” enraging several people online.
Despite the horrific tragedy, some media outlets seemed to sympathize with the shooter, even headlining articles calling him “not a troublemaker,” CBS reports.
People on Twitter condemned the way these media outlets referred to the killer.
A "lovesick teen" doesn't shoot a girl who broke his heart. A psychopath does. Do better with this headline. https://t.co/3VfHrZZMU9
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) March 22, 2018
Twitter user Emily C. Singer went into detail on why she thinks the headline is troublesome, sharing that she had a similar experience.
What haunts me about this is that I had a fellow student stalk me in HS, and had to go to the police about him when he had a violent outburst when I turned him down. Would he have been a "lovesick teen"? https://t.co/cPEyd3q01b
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) March 22, 2018
“He’s abusive,” Twitter user Ashley Alese Edwards attempted to correct the ABC headline.
I literally just published a story about this but hey @ABC and @AP, a teen who shot and ALMOST KILLED his ex girlfriend and another classmate because he couldn't accept that relationship was over is not "lovesick." He's ABUSIVE. pic.twitter.com/5c9hCl7wa7
— Ashley Alese Edwards (@AshleyAlese) March 22, 2018
And the word "lovesick" appears to be that of the reporters who wrote this — not the police or people interviewed. https://t.co/w3GUOoaKVb
— Ashley Alese Edwards (@AshleyAlese) March 22, 2018
Someone who brings a gun to school and shoots his ex and someone else should not be labeled as a lovesick puppy. No, that's an indication of someone who is abusive and controlling.
— Ashley Alese Edwards (@AshleyAlese) March 22, 2018
“This is exactly how domestic abusive is normalized — by rationalizing the shooter’s violent actions because he was ‘heartbroken.'” tweeted Edwards. “The end of a relationship is not an excuse or a justification for attempting to murder your former partner.”
Still others weighed in, saying the shooter was an abuser and the murder was domestic violence.
LOVESICK TEEN?????? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME POLICE DESCRIBED A POC SHOOTER AS A “LOVESICK TEEN?” ALSO HE SHOT HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ENDS IN THE WOMAN DYING BC HER EX KILLED HER? STOP FUCKING ROMANTICIZING WHITE MALE VIOLENCE. JUST STOP IT. https://t.co/a20NzNHEEt
— Lane Moore (@hellolanemoore) March 23, 2018
Places you should see the words “lovesick teen”:
-in a pop song
-in a 13 year old’s diary
-in a Cosmo articlePlaces you shouldn’t see “lovesick teen”:
-in a statement by police or a news headline describing a murderer pic.twitter.com/F3qFdT5yu6— Mykie (@Glam_And_Gore) March 23, 2018
STOP DOING THIS. He killed a girl because he wanted her. He’s not a cute “lovesick” teen, he’s a domestic abuser. https://t.co/Fg1pXWFXKf
— Sejal Singh (@Sej_Singh) March 22, 2018
Time magazine also referenced the shooter as “lovesick” in a headline on Twitter.
Maryland high school shooter was lovesick teen, police say https://t.co/H5P8WC4s87
— TIME (@TIME) March 23, 2018
No, @TIME. The boy who killed #JaelynnWilley was not a “lovesick teen.” He was a murderer who believed Jaelynn had no right to live without him. That’s not love. That’s #domesticviolence. pic.twitter.com/yj5WDGcENB
— Renee Graham (@reneeygraham) March 23, 2018
Police said that the shooter and one of his victims, Jaelynn Willey, had been dating and recently ended the relationship.
“All indications suggest the shooting was not a random act of violence,” police said in a statement.
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