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Original poster

Deleted thread - woman witnessed shootings

85 replies

happy97 · 30/01/2021 10:26

Why would someone troll about this? I find it staggering that a person would go to so much trouble to make it all up. For what gain 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 30/01/2021 11:05

The st Leonard’s story must have been national news, I’m in Scotland and I remember reading about it.

Ohdoleavemealone · 30/01/2021 11:10

Yep. Seemed very troll like to me too. I commented on it anyway just to see where it was going!

maybelou · 30/01/2021 11:12

Well I fell for it, I spent ages last night feeling awful for that OP! Why would someone make that up?!

I'm also now sat here worrying about what if it WAS real and on top of that trauma she's had her thread deleted and all Confused

It's possible I worry too much about strangers on the internet 😅

WildImaginings · 30/01/2021 11:28

I reported this. I actually wrote in my report that I felt awful if I had made a mistake and it was real but the dates didn't add up, the writing was 'off'. I asked MN to confirm if the poster was a long-standing namechanger as she said. I didn't comment on the thread.

PJ04JCW · 30/01/2021 11:30

Yeah I smelt a rat, too far fetched.

WhatMattersMost · 30/01/2021 11:38

For what it's worth, anyone who starts a thread like this is not entirely mentally healthy. They may be writing about something totally different, but they're still grappling with something.

CharityDingle · 30/01/2021 11:52

@mynameiscalypso

I'm pretty sure that if a British man and two teenagers had been shot on holiday because they were mistaken for being part of a gang then it would have been big news here...
Exactly.

People do need to take a step back and think, when totally unbelievable stuff like that is posted.

Mumsnet really is a troll's paradise.

StepOutOfLine · 30/01/2021 12:05

@WhatMattersMost

For what it's worth, anyone who starts a thread like this is not entirely mentally healthy. They may be writing about something totally different, but they're still grappling with something.
Maybe. Or trying out plots. It's a bit like journalist threads "has anyone ever..." (There's one right now IMO getting her research done via MN) I reckon at least half of the CF/batshit SIL threads are the workings of writers seeing if their plots are a goer.
StepOutOfLine · 30/01/2021 12:07

I worked with a bloke who said 11 of his children had been killed by the IRA. In Australia. While he was working as a spy for the Bulgarian government.
None of that came up in Google either funnily. Confused

kursaalflyer · 30/01/2021 12:10

Yes it was the fact that it was AMA rang out. The first few posters didn't really know what to say. I couldn't read the whole thread as it was getting others emotionally involved. You have to pity some people I suppose, they obviously don't have anything going on in real life.

ParkheadParadise · 30/01/2021 12:15

Funny how there are always posters ready to defend the OP on threads like that one and think nothing of sending vile pm's if you dare ask a genuine question.

CharityDingle · 30/01/2021 12:32

MN should vet AMAs, before they are started.

That's what happens on other websites.

Original poster
happy97 · 30/01/2021 13:01

@CharityDingle

MN should vet AMAs, before they are started.

That's what happens on other websites.

Completely agree. Some of them are interesting to read, but some are clearly contentious.

This one had me fooled though.

OP posts:
ComtesseDeSpair · 30/01/2021 13:14

It was pretty blatant trolling, from somebody who clearly hadn't thought hard enough at the start to realise that such an event would have received a lot of media attention. “I’m going to talk about this terribly terribly traumatic event which happened to me and that I’ve never felt able to talk about to anyone but my therapist before and invite a bunch of strangers to literally ask me anything about it; oh, but actually, whilst I can tell you details like my daughter’s name and what the killer said in court I can’t tell you any of the basic details like where it was because, uh, that would be outing. And it was never reported whatsoever by any media so that’s why you can’t find any reference to it if you google.”

Throwaway99 · 30/01/2021 13:16

MN should get rid of the AMAs completely.

ComtesseDeSpair · 30/01/2021 13:20

[quote marbellamarc]@rattymcratrat the lack of news wasn't a red flag to me as often murders get little press[/quote]
Most murders make at least the local news. Four British tourists including a pregnant woman who later lost her baby gunned down in a popular European resort in a case of mistaken identity in gang warfare? And not a murmur in any type of media? Yeah, right.

gypsywater · 30/01/2021 13:23

It was so obviously a load of shit! Grin

Onedropbeat · 30/01/2021 13:54

@Throwaway99

MN should get rid of the AMAs completely.
Agreed
MNHQ
YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet · 30/01/2021 15:17

Hello @happy97 we can't ever be 100% sure about anyone but in this case, we had good reason to suspect that the OP was not genuine. We don't want to go into the exact reasons why (TSSDNCOP) as it kind of hands the trolls a how-to guide. Sorry to all who added to their thread, we know how rubbish it is when this happens, but, as the saying goes, on the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

ssd · 30/01/2021 15:19

I totally believed this, was it all made up?

BobbidyBob · 30/01/2021 15:39

I honestly don’t know what’s worse - the troll or all the “well-meaning” people begging for gory details and falling over themselves to offer a handhold and flowers and shouting down anyone who dares to question the OP when they start messing up dates. It was such an obvious wannabe (bad) writer that was basking in all the froth they’d created. People need to use a bit more critical thinking and stop getting sucked into tall tales blindly.

BobbidyBob · 30/01/2021 15:42

Most murders make at least the local news. Four British tourists including a pregnant woman who later lost her baby gunned down in a popular European resort in a case of mistaken identity in gang warfare? And not a murmur in any type of media? Yeah, right.

Exactly. I don’t know why this needs to be spelled out Confused

YouAintKingDingALing · 30/01/2021 16:37

There are some very, very sick individuals out there. I agree with a pp re the socks on that thread

Meowmeow20202 · 30/01/2021 16:43

Its sound like mm is pretty sure but when ever i see something like this i remember the poster whos waters broke very early and she lost her boy. Even mm thought troll and banned/deleted. It ended up being real. Please be thoughtful on what you post even if its seems an obvious pisstake Smile

CharityDingle · 30/01/2021 16:49

@BobbidyBob

Most murders make at least the local news. Four British tourists including a pregnant woman who later lost her baby gunned down in a popular European resort in a case of mistaken identity in gang warfare? And not a murmur in any type of media? Yeah, right.

Exactly. I don’t know why this needs to be spelled out Confused

Exactly.

Highly unlikely that such an event would not have made international news headlines...