13 Dead in Washington Shooting

Reading about Aaron Alexis' alleged shooting in Washington from both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, I noticed some immediate points that need addressing.

First, both news sites are treating Mr. Alexis as though, without a doubt, he was the one to commit the shootings. WSJ mentions that no one is sure if he said anything to the police before a shootout happened, and that officials are still trying to piece together what happened. Now, as much of the 'evidence' that seems to point to Mr. Alexis committing the crime, nothing has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt (much of the evidence seems to be coming from witnesses, which can be hugely misleading in a panicked situation like this). In fact, initial reports have witnesses suggesting more than one suspect, due to overlapping sightings in different areas of the complex. Was Mr. Alexis just an armed man, trying to find the shooter?

Each news outlet is so convinced of his guilt, that they have begun digging into his background, finding evidence of 'mental illness.' This is something I am sensitive about. My husband has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from serving in the Navy. Every time we hear about someone doing something harmful who happened to be in the military, it seems like people jump to the assumption of PTSD being a 'cause.' What I would like to see in the future is for A) news sites waiting to do huge background histories on a suspect, because doing them before the facts are clear make things more complicated for the audience. B) Instead of pointing to PTSD as a cause, why not think of it as a symptom: why did they have such trouble, and why weren't they helped?

It seems like the media, no matter who is reporting, looks at an act of violence and automatically begins to dig into the person(s) background--what psychological distress must they have had to carry out such an act? Instead, they should be focusing not on the psychological itself, but what caused it, and if we (citizens) have the ability to change it. In the last few months, few news sources have discussed the raise in suicides in the military, and I have yet to read any in-depth report on the issues within Veteran Affairs and why the military and the government is failing their troops so badly.

Whether or not Mr. Alexis had PTSD, or if it had anything to do with 9/11, he should have undergone psych evaluations before entering the Navy, and they should have stopped him from being processed if there were serious questions about the state of his mental health. This is what the news should be uncovering.

By not discussing the implications behind mistreatment in the military, I feel like both articles from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are missing the big picture, and missing making this relevant to US citizens everywhere. We all know someone or are related to someone who has been in the military. This is an issue that defies race, economic status, ideology, education, and more. For making front page news and for devoting so much space to the issue of Mr. Alexis' alleged mass shooting, I'm left feeling like the journalists missed out on a story that needs more exploration.