He didn't know the 16-year-old was dead, apparently from police gunfire, after this young man and his father allegedly killed two police officers earlier in the day. Two other cops were wounded in this shoot-out.
Death toll--four. Wounded--who knows how many?
This picture is from Friday's front page of the Memphis CA. I clipped it from their website and then discovered it was in the "top ten" for the Newseum's Front Page gallery.
Full disclosure. The Commercial Appeal is a Scripps paper and I work for Scripps. And as you probably know, I spent nearly nine years in Memphis at WMC-TV (formerly a Scripps TV station).
Here the CA's editorial boss explaining his decision to publish the photo.
And there's more. Here's a report from WMC after the shooting about video they captured before the photo was taken.
My thoughts: Sometimes news is ugly. Sad. Horrible. It is our job to report the facts, as best we can, without bias, without judgement. I don't know how this teenager and his dad got into so much trouble. I don't know why they apparently shot police officers. I'm sad for my friends in Memphis who are in law enforcement (and for the ones who have to report on it) because it seems like my former home town has had its share of senseless violence.
Four men died in the Mid-South yesterday. One was just a kid. It's the job of news gatherers in that community to do the best they can to discover the truth and report it.
The Commercial Appeal reporters and photographer did their job. I salute their courage in publishing this photograph.
