"The Evolution of Texas Gun Laws"
El Paso Times
3/12/2020
The El Paso Times produced the most comprehensive breaking news coverage of the Aug. 3, 2019, Walmart shooting. Our staff rose to meet the online demands of a community and nation turning to our website for answers and information.
Within minutes of learning of the attack, the reporter and photographer working that day were on their way to the store. They quickly were joined by other reporters and photographers who showed up at the scene, many of their own volition, to help.
Our staff quickly had photographs, videos and reports from people who survived the massacre and let them know where to go to be reunited with family members from whom they were separated during the attack.
Our coverage brought in nearly 3 million page views that day. The main story, which was compiled from feeds from our reporters and photographers in the field, brought in more than 425,000 page views, while the main photo gallery garnered more than 1.6 million.
We quickly built photo galleries, created videos and conducted Facebook Live sessions to keep our online visitors informed. We let our community know the conditions of the wounded and shared information on the victims who were killed.
Social media posts played a key role in getting breaking news out and helping the public keep up with the latest developments and information.
Our staff worked quickly to get and verify information on the gunman, his motive and the devastation he brought to our community.
Our breaking news coverage highlighted the damage an outsider brought to our community, which consistently has been ranked one of the safest cities in the U.S. Our work is a testament to the importance of news sites in helping serve communities across the nation through challenges we face as an industry and as a society.
Texas suffered through two mass shootings in August 2019. The attacks were devastating for the El Paso and Odessa communities. In all, 29 people were killed and dozens of others, including police officers, were injured by the mass shooters.
Our reporters covered the attacks live, but their reporting lead to an investigative project on how the two August attacks made Texas the leader in mass shooting deaths in the nation.
In weeks of reporting, our team showed how mass shootings are having a dramatic impact on life in Texas. Using public records, our team examined issues such as school safety, conceal carry training and identified trends in mass shootings in Texas.
We explored the impact on children, their parents, school employees, police, clergy and the office of governor of the state of Texas. We examined how state gun laws were shaping public attitudes when it comes to making changes to reduce mass shootings.
The reporting showed that Gov. Greg Abbott is having to get used to consoling grieving communities while struggling to define a strategy to respond to the mass shootings.
For now, Texans are finding themselves playing the role of first responders, receiving specialized training to stop bleeding, arm themselves and guard their own churches.
This investigative package was a collaboration of reporters in several of the USA Today Network’s newsrooms in Texas.
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Submitted by Trish Long.