News Orgs Circulate Facebook Profile, Photos of Unconfirmed Shooter

Posted Monday, December 17, 2012 12:17 am

By: Jeff Sonderman | Poynter

Reporters and producers around the country, frantically searching for information online about the alleged school shooter and found what seemed like a match. Ryan Lanza, 24, was believed responsible for the deaths of 27 people in Newtown, Conn., at the Sandy Hook elementary school.

The Facebook profile showed a Ryan Lanza from Newtown, Conn., who currently lives in Hoboken, N.J., and is a male who looks like he’s in his 20s. It fits the police description, so countless news orgs ran with it in stories and tweets.

Problem is, it seems to be the wrong guy.

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News Orgs Circulate Facebook Profile, Photos of Unconfirmed Shooter

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