Today, unfortunately, there are many people dead and even more hospitalized after Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old gunman, opened fire at a country music festival in Las Vegas. While Jason Aldean was performing at the open-air festival, the gunman shot out his hotel window and fired onto the unsuspecting festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The gunman proceeded to fire hundreds of bullets with his rifles, late Sunday night. By the time police stormed his room the gunman had taken his life. The resulting tragedy has become the one of the worst mass shooting in US modern history.

As you may have noticed by now, I have chosen to only mention the gunman’s name once. This is due to the fact that I do not want to glorify the shooter, rather I want to offer my condolences to the victims and their families. The media chooses to dramatize these events, showing the shooters face, giving this monster’s 24/7 coverage, and making the body count the lead story. All of these actions by news teams fuel the fire and can end up making the shooter a hero, in their sick mind, which can lead to more mass shootings.  Expert psychoanalyst who study these kinds of behaviors and tragic events have warned the media of how to handle the news coverage following and event like this, but of course the media does not listen. Reporters should not say this is glorify that this is the largest mass shooting ever, nor should they provide such details as to give criminals any inside information that they may use in future tragic situations!  Unfortunately, following an event like this law enforcement expects copycats to respond with more mass shootings, and dramatized media coverage can amplify the reaction of other lone gunmen who want to make a name for themselves by causing terror and destruction. So today I choose not to glorify the shooter or this horrific violent massacre, rather I give my thanks to first responders and civilians who saved lives early this morning following the shooting and offer my prayers for those who lost their lives and were affected by the shooting in Las Vegas.