Bloody images of Texas mass shooting add to fervour in gun debate

WASHINGTON – Another mass shooting in the United States, but this time something is different: Exceedingly graphic images of bloodied and disfigured victims, among them at least one child, circulated widely on social media. 

Though it was impossible to authenticate the depictions of Saturday’s carnage at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, a discussion ensued over whether they should be part of the entrenched debate about gun violence in America.

“I do not want to see the photo floating around on social media, taken while I was calling 911 and trying to render aid at the Allen Outlets,” tweeted Mr Steven Spainhouer, a former police officer who administered first aid at the scene. “The least you could have done is help, not take photos of people at death’s doorstep.”

But some advocates of stronger gun control measures argue that the hundreds of mass shootings in the US each year justify sharing the bloody scenes left behind, particularly when high-powered, high capacity military-style weapons are involved.

The debate needs to move, they contend, away from political abstraction to the victims concretely. 

Many stress, however, that consent of the victims’ families is essential. 

“We absolutely need people to feel emotionally compelled to action,” said Ms Nicole Golden, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, an Austin non-profit organisation that lobbies for stricter gun laws. “But with the graphic content, it’s important that we are survivor-centric, and that those families are content with those images being shared.”

There is no indication that family members of any of those depicted in Allen gave consent. 

Ms Kat Vargas, a volunteer for the gun-control group Moms Demand Action, whose husband was a first responder in the shooting, said survivors often want people to see their loved ones in happier times.

“I wish that choice had not been taken away from the families,” she said.

As at Sunday afternoon, the images were easily found on Twitter, which did not specifically respond to an e-mailed question about its policies on showing graphic violence. 

Ghoulish

One image shows five bloodied bodies, apparently one male and four females, some on top of another.

One child lies on her back with an apparent gunshot wound to her head. Another image shows a young woman on her back, some of her clothing peeled back, with a bloodied face.

The alleged shooter is also shown apparently dead on his back and shot in the head.

A military-style weapon lies close by, and what appear to be high-capacity ammunition clips are wrapped around his waist. 

In the free-for-all verbal combat of Twitter, some decried the images as heartless and ghoulish, while others said it is past time Americans were forced to confront the real effects of gun violence.

An argument over such images is playing out, too, among politicians, law enforcement, academics and journalists.

Mr Sewell Chan, editor-in-chief of the Texas Tribune, a non-profit news organisation, said he is not planning to publish the images from Allen.

Part of his hesitation, he said, stems from the issue of consent from families and also a conviction for treating death with dignity. 

Politics is also an issue. He said the Tribune possessed graphic photos and videos from the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, in which 19 students and two teachers were shot dead in 2022, and also decided against publishing them. 

“We’ve wanted the focus to be around the issues,” he said. “Our job is to report on public policy, and I don’t want our coverage to either be seen as a political statement or overwhelmed by controversy.”

Mr David Boardman, dean of Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia, advocates publishing such images given the scale of mass shootings.

“You’re not going to change the mind of NRA (National Rifle Association) zealots and you’re not going change the mind of people on the far left who think that no citizen should have a gun,” he said. “But there are masses in the middle who I think are conflicted on these issues. And I think you are doing a service to these people to bring these images into their living rooms.” 

Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez said on CNN talk show State of the Union that he showed a graphic photo from Uvalde to fellow lawmakers, but ultimately tore it up as it was “inappropriate”.

The Democrat said any future decision to publish images needs consent from family members. 

He said something needs to happen to end the killing. 

“People need to really wake up,” he said. “It’s almost become some normal event for everybody.” BLOOMBERG