Mainstream Media Exaggerate Reports of Vandalism

By Lillie Lavado
On Friday, November 10th, WFSB channel 3 in Hartford reported that there was “a Sniper” at Capital Community College who shot at security guards on two separate occasions. This erroneous report resulted in tons of fearful students, parents, and downtown employees, many of whom did not enter the school that day.

What actually happened was that Capital Community College personnel discovered shattered windows on the 8th and 10th floors of the building. The Campus Department of Public Safety has determined that the damage occurred between the hours of 11:30 P.M. Wednesday and 6:00 A.M. Thursday, while the college was closed. There were no injuries and the projectiles did not penetrate the Plexiglas windows on the front of the building, the Main Street side. The college was not specifically targeted, and just happened by chance to be hit twice by a person that was reported to have fired several shots into the air, according to Master Sergeant James Griffin from CCC.

A suspect was detained following the gunshots and initially held on a $100,000 bond. A handgun was found with the suspect that matched the bullets’ caliber but we have no word on whether the bullets matched the gun. CSN was present while a WFSB reporter interviewed John McNamara, Director of Development, in front of one of the shattered windows while Academic Dean Mary Ann Affleck looked on and corrected the erroneous WFSB report.