WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 17 (DPI) – The New York Times and other major news agencies, citing unidentified law-enforcement sources yesterday, reported that Aaron Alexis used a civilian assault rifle to carry out his killing spree at the Washington Navy Yard.
From The NYT’s main report appearing on the front page this morning:
“Three weapons were found on Mr. Alexis: an AR-15 assault rifle, a shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol, a senior law enforcement officer said. It was unclear whether he had brought all the guns with him, another law enforcement official said, or if he had taken one or more of them from his victims.”
Turns out that was not the case, according to subsequent reports today. But that misinformation cycled through reports and comments on the internet all day and night.
In fact, the killer bought a shotgun and two boxes of shells from a gun shop in Lorton, VA, over the weekend, according to a report today.
The Washington Post’s lead article in its print edition referred to the use of a shotgun by the shooter. Early online reports referred to the use of an assault rifle.
To The Post’s credit, the paper’s Eric Wemple came out with a lengthy report on all the media outlets that disseminated the highly sensitive misinformation, highly sensitive given that re-banning assault rifles has been at the center of the gun debate for years.