Creepy Wikipedia

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D.C. sniper attacks - Two snipers terrorized the Washington, D.C. area on Oct 2002, killing 10 people and critically injuring three (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 2 years ago by decadentrebel@lemm.ee to c/creepywikipedia@lemmy.world

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[–] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

From what I remember about this one, the media switched from calling them 'snipers' to 'gunmen'/shooters as soon as we found out they were black.

[–] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is there a difference? I thought the words were synonymous in meaning and connotation.

[–] BloodSlut@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Personally, I view "sniper" as having the connotation of being a much higher skillset and degree of planning and competency. Likely with some level of training and control.

Meanwhile "gunner" could just be any half-brained Joe schmo who picks a gun of the ground and starts firing.

As for diction, sniper typically refers to a long range shooter using a powerful rifle while gunner could be using any gun.

[–] Stout4689@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I remember something like this. Made me think I was going t s hot on the way to school! I wish I could say the world has improved since then

[–] darganon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

This was a crazy time to live right in the area they were shooting people. Luckily their pattern was "shoot people standing still close to the interstate" so the risk was pretty minimal, but terrifying nonetheless.

[–] decadentrebel@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I remember when this was dominating the news like it was yesterday. It was heavily implied that the shooters were Al Qaeda or terrorists given that this was around the time 9/11 was still fresh.

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