Off-Duty Correction Officer Shoots Himself And Woman While Showing Off At Hell’s Kitchen Bar
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 7 months ago
He just had to show off his gun.
Police arrested an off-duty city correction officer who brandished his gun in a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant to impress two women – then accidentally shot himself in the finger and one of his companions in her right foot, officials said Wednesday.
Correction Officer Mario Carrillo was charged with assault and reckless endangerment for the boneheaded move inside the Mamasita Bar & Grill on 10th Ave. near W. 54th St. on Tuesday night.
The 56-year-old guard, a five-year employee of the Department of Correction, had joined two women at the restaurant at about 8 p.m. and was talking about his job when he pulled out his off-duty Glock to show them how it worked, officials said.A moment later, the pistol went off.
“It appears he may have been displaying it,” a police source said.
Well gosh. I just hate it when that happens to me. We always laugh, and laugh, and laugh if the wounded ones are willing to laugh about it and shrug it off.
Notice the third person the author applies in the article, as if the gun has a personality of its own and does things volitionally. “A moment later, the pistol went off.”
Remember boys and girls. Only authorized journalists can be considered professional writers. And only LEOs are tactically well trained enough to handle guns.
On May 25, 2017 at 11:16 am, Archer said:
It’s the active vs. passive voice all over again. To read professional “authorized journalists”, police officers never do anything; stuff “just happens” around them.
In any officer-involved self-defense shooting, you know Officer A consciously and deliberately pulled the trigger on Suspect B, usually (but not always) with some justification based on Suspect B’s behavior. Similarly, in any officer-involved negligent shooting (like the story above), you know the officer was not paying attention to his muzzle direction while he was fingering the trigger, discharging the pistol. Cause and effect, and a clear assignment of responsibility. Active voice.
But in the first instance the report almost invariably will say the suspect “was shot”. No cause of action, no assignment of responsibility. The shooting “just happened” when officers showed up. In the second instance, the gun just “went off” and people “were injured”. Again, no cause of action, no responsibility. Stuff “just happened”. Passive voice.
Not only is the passive voice factually inaccurate due to incompleteness, it’s just lazy writing. Good writers avoid the passive voice specifically because it’s so vague the reader doesn’t know what’s happening (plus, it’s boring when stuff “just happens” without a cause; there’s no plot).
Pro-tip: As a journalist, if you have facts, report facts. If you don’t have facts, why the hell are you reporting as if you do?
But then again, nobody ever accused “authorized journalists” of being good writers.
On May 31, 2017 at 12:54 pm, Jack Crabb said:
Since when are prison HACKS (Horse’s Asses Carrying Keys) members of The Holy Order of The Only Ones?