It was after 10:00 pm when I got the call at home. It was a friend and he said that something big was happening at a local park. "Every squad car in the county is out there."
Under those circumstances, I got dressed, grabbed my camera and drove the eight blocks over to the park just off our downtown square.
It was obvious something big really did happen. The giant floodlight from the fire dept. was streaming down on an intersection adjoining the park. There were bubble lights dancing everywhere with their red and white and blue gyrations showing no concern for synchronicity. The area was cordoned off a full block away from the corner with auxiliary sheriff's deputies keeping everyone from getting anywhere near whatever had happened.
I walked the perimeter talking to the folks in the homes that surround the park. I gained a consensus that a young man nicknamed Tattoo, real name unknown to them, had been in a shooting with police and that he was dead. He got the name because his entire face is covered in tattoos. It seems this lost soul had a gun and when he stepped out of a truck with gun drawn officers fired on him.
He had already fired a harmless shot in the park that had drawn police patrols and officers to the park area. Knowing that, two officers pulled over a pickup truck and Tattoo jumped out of the vehicle with gun drawn. They did the only thing they could do and shot him. Neighbors said they heard between six and nine rounds go off in the battle.
As I walked the area picking up bits and pieces, I knew many of these little bits of information were not correct. Years of seasoning tell you when someone actually saw something or is relating and embellishing something they heard from others.
I also learned from an officer on scene that the gunman had been taken to an area hospital and at that time he was alive.
I went home with a photo of the scene and popped a brief story online of a shooting without a name or disposition of injuries. It was a classic verbal tap dance just saying what was known for sure without adding anything that wasn't certain.
I went to bed knowing the next morning would be busy. It also would be an interesting look into journalism.
The bigger paper up north carried their own mini-story with one mistake saying the gunman came out of a white car. No big mistake but I wondered how they got that when the green truck at the scene was obviously the vehicle involved in the shooting.
The morning TV news from a city down south had a quick blurb stating the gunman was doing well in an area hospital. But then they showed a picture of the street signs at the intersection and they were at the wrong intersection. Again: nothing monumental but a mistake.
At an early morning press conference by the local states attorney, TV crews from ABC, NBC and Fox showed up as well as three other local newspapers.
All three TV crews had just come on the job and had no idea what they were covering. The stations, instead of keeping continuity and have the night crews continue to cover the event sent new people who had no background in the story. Again a slip as we in the news know when someone gets started on a story, they finish it as well. We newspaper guys tried to fill in the blanks for the TV guys before the press conference so they wouldn't ask redundant questions. But still they did and it was excruciating for those of us who had done our homework previous to the press conference.
After the press conference, a journeyman TV reporter said. "So the neighbor had a gun too." I jumped his bones on that asking why he would say that since no one had told him that. "Listening is a skill" Again: a small mistake that could have been aired.
As the day went on, updates in the media began to get the story right and the interest in the case to the out-of-town media waned.
The two local papers and the one bigger up north will keep everyone updated as this proceeds but the blood and guts is over so there is no time to spend in a small town from the networks when there is something hot and juicy going on in the bigger cities.
There were some other little mistakes I noticed. Nothing big but it showed that just like questioning the reliability of witnesses, we all need to question what we read in print or hear on the air. It could be right but then again perhaps not all of it. Sometimes the media in an effort to be first doesn't concern themselves with being right. It happens every day. Even in a small town.
Freelance writer, columnist, author and writing coach, ex-Chicagoan Mike Fak presently resides in Central Illinois. More information about Mike's services are available at his home website www.mikefak.com
Mike currently writes primarily humor columns for searchwarp bi-weekly and is the managing editor of www.lincolndailynews.com
Mike now offers a 26,000 word e-book on making money as a freelance writer for only $10.00 at this page. http://www.mikefak.com/id45.html
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