texas church shooting
Texas officials won't use Sutherland Springs shooter's name anymore
Texas officials will not use the name of the 26-year-old Sutherland Springs church shooter going forward because "we do not want to glorify him and what he's done," said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Freeman Martin on Tuesday. Local officials had already publicly identified the shooter, who killed 26 people Sunday, The Guardian reports.
"Certainly don't want to glorify what has happened," added FBI special agent Chris Combs. "There [are] a couple of campaigns out there, one is called Don't Name Them, we don't talk about the shooter, we don't see his name out there in the press so it doesn't encourage other people to do horrific acts like this."
Diana Hendricks, who works as the director of communications for the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University, emphasized that in addition to the use of the shooter's name, comparisons and rankings of body counts can also be dangerous. "When you give things this badge of dishonor, it sets a bar for the next one," she told The Guardian.