# 21 Dead at Elementary School W of San Antonio, TX {May 24, 2022} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [May 24, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028 "2022-05-24T20:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/41 "2022-05-24T23:58:19Z")
I would expect at least one three lettered news outlet to devote relatively less air time to the story. ---
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/42 "2022-05-25T00:07:26Z")
I can’t imagine the level of rage and darkness within that might cause an 18 yo to randomly slaughter a bunch of kids. This is ISIS-level diabolical. But _those_ guys are fueled by drugs and doctrine. BTW it seems to be 15 dead now. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/43 "2022-05-25T00:10:32Z")
I see 18 children plus 3 adults now: [https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-school-district-locked-reports-shooter-84940954](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/texas-school-district-locked-reports-shooter-84940954) ETA: Seems to be the same numbers as reported by **Paul\_in\_Saudi** ’s cite in the Houston Chronicle a few posts back. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/44 "2022-05-25T00:40:42Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > > [@kambuckta](#): > > > > What a bizarre thing to say??!!?? > > You mean that you’ve never heard of “missing white girl” syndrome? It’s a proven fact that the media is more likely to cover bad things that happen to white, middle- or upper-class people than to poor minorities. I think there is a formula used by TV news directors to decide how much ‘play’ to give a mass-shooting. It takes into account: number of victims; age of victims; race of victims (if white, go to white-folk socio-economic sub-formula). It’s proprietary, like the formula for Coke, but certain patterns can be discerned. E.g. when there’s more than X victims and they are less than Y years-old then Z (race) doesn’t matter. It’s helpful to use the journalism metric “Natalees” when comparing the gravity of different news items. E.g.: 46 murdered Black 7-year olds = 1 Natalee 1 missing Natalee Holloway = 1 Natalee ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/45 "2022-05-25T00:49:48Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > You mean that you’ve never heard of “missing white girl” syndrome? It’s a proven fact that the media is more likely to cover bad things that happen to white, middle- or upper-class people than to poor minorities. 18 dead children killed in a mass shooting at a school in America is going to make national news regardless of whether they’re white, black, Hispanic or Klingon. Now if it happened in another country, it would probably drop below the fold. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/46 "2022-05-25T00:50:55Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Now if it happened in another country, it would probably drop below the fold. Dang! I forgot **location** in my above calculations. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/47 "2022-05-25T00:54:09Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Now if it happened in another country, it would probably drop below the fold. I’m not sure I agree with that. A mass shooting like this rarely happens anywhere but in the US. How would it not be in the news? I don’t want to stray into politics so I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/48 "2022-05-25T01:01:26Z")
It’s international news, not just national. It was ‘breaking news’ at around 7.30am this morning on my news channel. Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/49 "2022-05-25T01:02:57Z")
Nah, if they emphasize the race of the shooter and downplay the race of the victims, they could make serious political hay out if it outside of guns. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/50 "2022-05-25T01:05:58Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > It’s international news, not just national. It was ‘breaking news’ at around 7.30am this morning on my news channel. Australia. It’s the top story on all our networks here in Canada, too. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/51 "2022-05-25T01:09:54Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I’m not sure I agree with that. A mass shooting like this rarely happens anywhere but in the US. How would it not be in the news? I had the same reaction on first reading - but I think @flurb must have meant if the shooting happened in another country, it would drop below the fold in the U.S. news, not the the news in the country where it happened. Still not sure it’s true, but’s its the only way it makes any sense. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/52 "2022-05-25T01:13:53Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I had the same reaction on first reading - but I think @flurb must have meant if the shooting happened in another country, it would drop below the fold in the U.S. news, not the the news in the country where it happened. Still not sure it’s true, but’s its the only way it makes any sense. You are correct regarding my intended meaning. And I’ll amend my statement somewhat – if it happened in a developed nation, it would make the American news. If it happened in a developing nation, Americans would assume it was the third mass shooting there this week. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/53 "2022-05-25T01:14:21Z")
I think it would run top of the news, for days and days in certain US news networks. Edited to add after flurb updated: I still think that is true for certain US news networks, doesn’t depend on the country. Some networks want to prove that mass gun killings happen everywhere, even those with strict gun control. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/54 "2022-05-25T01:19:07Z")
Texas had one of the early mass shootings. Univ of Texas Tower shooting August 1, 1966. I wish the best for the survivors and the grieving families. They need our prayers and support. There aren’t enough words to describe my feelings at this barbaric and evil act. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/55 "2022-05-25T01:31:01Z")
This is the kind of school where it happened. Those poor (in more ways than one) children probably lived a lifetime of hopelessness, and then they met their ends this way. > **[Robb Elementary](https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/texas/robb-elementary-278634)** > > Learn more about Robb Elementary here - See an overview of the school, get student population data, enrollment information, test scores and more. This story, from Canada, certainly didn’t last very long either. > **[2020 Nova Scotia attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > On April 18 and 19, 2020, Gabriel Wortman committed multiple shootings and set fires at 16 locations in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people and injuring three others before he was shot and killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Enfield. > For most of the thirteen-hour crime spree, Wortman was driving a replica RCMP cruiser and may have been wearing parts of an RCMP uniform. On December 4, three people, includin... And what about the Las Vegas shooting - about 60 dead (I heard recently that one “survivor” had died from the aftereffects of their injuries) and over 500 injured, many of them from being trampled? That seemed to disappear really fast, too, although I realize it appears to have been because nobody could find a motive. ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/56 "2022-05-25T01:34:26Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Those poor (in more ways than one) children probably lived a lifetime of hopelessness, and then they met their ends this way. Well, just because they were poor doesn’t necessarily mean they lived with hopelessness. But thinking about that makes the whole situation even worse. The poor kids who had their whole lives ahead of them, who could’ve been or done anything. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/57 "2022-05-25T01:37:51Z")
There’s an excellent documentary about it called “Tower”, that aired on PBS a couple years ago. This one too saw a body count increase, also due to a death from complications of the shooting, in 2001. One of the fatalities was an 8-month-old fetus whose mother was shot in the belly. She made a complete recovery except for being unable to have more children. > **[University of Texas tower shooting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_tower_shooting)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The University of Texas tower shooting was an act of mass murder which occurred on August 1, 1966, at the University of Texas at Austin. The perpetrator, 25-year-old Marine veteran Charles Whitman, indiscriminately fired at members of the public both within the Main Building tower and from the tower's observation deck. He shot and killed 15 people, including an unborn child, and injured 31 others before he was killed by two Austin Police Departm... > **[Tower (2016) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5116410/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)** > > Tower: Directed by Keith Maitland. With Monty Muir, Violett Beane, Cole Bee Wilson, Aldo Ordoñez. Animation, testimony, and archival footage combine to relate the events of August 1, 1966 when a gunman opened fire from the University of Texas clock... Scroll down to “20th century” for a brief statement about a mass shooting that killed 6 and injured at least 25 - in 1903. > **[Winfield, Kansas | 20th century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield,_Kansas#20th_century)** > > The Winfield-Arkansas City area became an industrial community in the 20th century, manufacturing consumer goods, and eventually aircraft and aircraft parts, while retaining its traditional dominant employer, the Winfield State Hospital. > On August 13, 1903, 30-year-old Gilbert Twigg, armed with a 12-gauge double-barrelled shotgun, opened fire at a concert, killing six people and wounding at least 25, before killing himself. Three others died in hospitals afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/58 "2022-05-25T01:52:27Z")
I thought of the Tower shootings as well not only due to the location but due to the fact he allegedly killed his grandmother before this spree. If that happened, I’d assume some form of brain or mind disturbance like with Whitman. Political and revenge killers don’t generally kill their family and relations before going on a generalized spree (although of course, revenge killers can certainly do just the former, and there’s exceptions like perhaps Port Arthur.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/59 "2022-05-25T02:10:51Z")
This deserves to go viral. And he understands, because his father was murdered, although not in the U.S. and under very different circumstances. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Q5x4eHn_3tA/maxresdefault.jpg "Steve Kerr Delivers Powerful Message After Mass Shooting At Elementary School") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5x4eHn_3tA) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028/60 "2022-05-25T02:11:28Z")
The quantity of these mass shootings seems to be increasing. And reports indicate the shooters post to social media, in almost a warning about what they plan to do. Is there any entity which monitors social media, watching for diatribes by potential shooters? Would it be possible to stop someone before the killings? Please? ~VOW [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/21-dead-at-elementary-school-w-of-san-antonio-tx-may-24-2022/965028.md?page=4)