"Some Damn Fine Shooting"
Reported by Donna - December 7, 2005
Joining Studio B with Shepard Smith in the middle of the shooting of a passenger on American Airlines, I found out new terms and also got kind of squeamish at the coverage.
The whole hour was devoted to the shooting at the Miami airport and Smith spoke with several analysts.
I learned that a FAM is a Federal Air Marshall, but I also learned what DFP is. Do you know? It's Deadly Force Policy. I can live with all of the terms in reporting the story, but some of the remarks, before they even knew the story, caught me a little off guard.
Smith had various security analysts on the phone during the hour long coverage. One of them said, "Sounds like the Air Marshall made a great decision and some damn fine shooting." Another analyst said, "They did a good job." Another talked about, "The suspect was incapacitated using the Deadly Force Policy."
Smith, himself, came up with some odd statements, "A way to rate it is, things went pretty darn well."
Smith: "Sounds like things went well today."
Comments: I'm sure that the Air Marshall's did their best to follow policy. I don't, however, think it should be remarked on so casually and without empathy. Does it seem rather cavalier and harsh to you guys, or is it just me? I guess I expected some professionalism. Like I said, I'm sure the Air Marshalls did their best to follow policy, but it shouldn't be prefaced with remarks like 'things went pretty darn well' and 'looks like some damn fine shooting.'
I think a man is dead. A tragedy, but not something to make casual remarks about like these listed above.
