'Tragic domestic incident' say police - surely that is an awful description (warning - upsetting news story)

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A seven year old girl has been shot in the head, and is 'gravely ill'.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/12/girl-six-shot-northiam-east-sussex

It seems that the person who shot her was her father, who then shot himself. And the police describe this as a 'tragic domestic incident'? Is it just me or is that far too sympathetic a description? I think 'abhorrent violent crime' would be more appropriate. But hey, let's not forget to show sensitivity towards men who shoot kids!

I've re-read the article and thread. I think the basic reporting (headline and text) is fine.

But the term "tragic domestic incident" is the police officer's opinion. Why not use the word "violent", and perhaps "appalling", rather than "tragic" which suggests "accidental" and "domestic" which suggests "private"?

Why isn't his opinion "appalling family violence" which gives the same reassurance to the rest of the public that there is no danger to them from a random gunholder?

I agree with you, OP. The words 'tragic' and 'domestic' have a history of being used to minimise, respectively, violent men's responsibility, and the seriousness of the violent acts they commit. I like LRD's suggested wording.

I've got no sympathy whatsoever for him. He was her father. Disgusting excuse for a man.

She's died.

RIP Mary Shipstone

The girl has died , the BBC is reporting it was 'said' to have been her father who shot her.

Another child killed by a parent. In Edinburgh today, a man was charged with murder. He got home drunk, at 3am, and when his wife pulled him up no it, as she had to be in work for 4am and he was unfit to look after their toddler son, he strangled her, played with the boy and then smotherd him with a pillow.

Oh, no.

Oh no that's awful . Shit I was really hoping she'd pull through.

Well. Good fathers don't kill their children.

Sunk in yet cogito?

Just seen this sad development on the news.

I'm in Edinburgh and that case is on my mind too. It's horrific. But then, they all are .

Oh no

Her poor Mother.

I missed your post rainbowinmyroom. That's horrendous as well.

When are people going to join the dots?

He says he didn't murder the boy. Sure. The faeries held a pillow over the child's face hours after the man 'snapped' and killed his wife, whose corpse was still lying in the house.

In the US, another man is facing the death penalty for killing his 5 children. Despite having convictions for cocaine possession and robbery, and SS saying he was overwhelmed, the children were left in his custody.

Yet apparently these are all tragic incidents which no-one could have foreseen. And it will continue.

and

Horrific

I read that awful article thinking just how often does a mother post on these boards who has escaped dv just as Mary Shipstone's mother had according to the Guardian, is struggling with contact between her child and ex while he takes it to court, and explains in the thread that she's been told in the legal system that just because the father is violent towards her doesn't mean he presents any risk to his child and is probably a safe and lovely father? Monthly? Fortnightly?

It terrifies me that the current system of child protection and family court process seems to have their fingers in their ears and don't want to admit that many abusers are often extremely charming, plausible people who are good at manipulating their audience, and for some of these men their central goal in pursuing contact for their child is to continue their contact with and control of/abuse of their ex with full legal support, using the thing that will hurt her most.

Poor, poor little soul. And that poor mother.

This is such a terrible story. That poor sweet little girl.

I too feel 'tragic' is the wrong word here. Its a passive(?) word, when this was active - it doesn't get much more active than shooting. 'Tragic', to me, almost suggests inevitable. I think, we would not use the word 'tragic' for murder of a child by strangers: we would say horrifying, scary, terrible, violent, etc.

so sad to hear the little girl died.
why do these horrid people do this?
mothers and fathers should protect their children

This is horrendous RIP little angel

It seems as if the girl and her mother were in hiding, effectively, and had only lived there a year.

You do wonder what it was that allowed the father to find them, a school newsletter on the internet, a Facebook photo, or what.

This just gets worse, I dont care if hes dead why is his face not in the papers the fuckin monster, the philpotts who accidentally killed their child are vilified on a world wide scale, wheres his face?

*children

:(

I always wonder if they are MNers. If they are, I hope they feel they can come here for support.

Now the poor girl's died, the reporting has become a lot less mealy-mouthed:

"A seven-year-old girl who was shot in the head by her father, who then killed himself, has died in hospital.

... Yasser Alromisse, turned up at his ex-partner's home and opened fire.

Neighbours said the gunman had been in a custody battle over the girl,...

It is understood that the girl's mother had moved away to escape domestic violence and that her ex-partner had discovered her new address."

So, no 'imagining how awful the poor man must have felt'. This was a man who murdered his child to spite his ex. What a fucking evil bastard. Not a tragic domestic incident. An everyday tale of a woman and her child fleeing for their lives but being gunned down because there is a complete failure to protect women and children from violent partners in this country.

Expectedly, the press need to find someone prepared to release a photo in order to publish said photo. Philpotts was still alive to be photographed.

Mum is on Facebook, LinkedIn, et al, which seems odd given that reports were that husband didn't have her address. But perhaps she had changed her name.

This is a photo of a man with the same name, likely to be him. www.saffronwaldenreporter.co.uk/news/watch_scheme_gets_5k_funding_1_379169