I have been reading this week about a gunman and some students who were killed. I have not once read about a murderer and those he murdered. Cho was a murderer. Calling him a gunman seems to blame the gun as much or more than Cho. If he had poisoned the students – would he be known as chemist? The 32 students and teachers were not killed, they were murdered. You are killed in a tragic automobile accident. If a deranged, suicidal maniac systematically and intentionally mows you down with guns – you were murdered. Since there were 32 victims – it was a mass murder.

Why is it so hard for the media to say this? Why is the word evil not used? Why is the press already looking to help justify the acts “of a tortured, misunderstood, scared student”? We need to acknowledge this act for exactly what is was before we can begin to learn from it and perhaps stop the next one. Hiding behind language to minimize the level of evil – and the results – is an insult to all of us, but mostly to the 32 victims.