On Wednesday evening, as the broadcast network evening newscasts reported on a shooting attack on a Kroger in the Louisville, Kentucky, area, ABC stood out in not mentioning an armed citizen who shot at the gunman and might have prevented more shootings.
In a 14-second brief, ABC host David Muir recalled:
We're following a deadly shooting at a supermarket outside Lexington, Kentucky. Police say two people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a Kroger store. One man was killed inside, a woman in the parking lot. The victims targeted at random. A suspect is in custody.
But as the CBS Evening News also gave the story a brief, host Jeff Glor informed viewers: "A bystander exchanged gunfire with the suspect who tried to escape but was captured a short distance from that store."
As the NBC Nightly News gave the story just over a minute, correspondent Joe Fryer recalled: "At one point, police say the suspect encountered an armed cirizen."
Then came a clip of Jeffersontown Police Chief Sam Rogers: "The citizen engaged the suspect with additional gunfire back and forth out here in the parking lot."
Thursday morning, NBC's Today show and Fox and Friends First each aired a brief that recalled the role of the armed citizen.
