"I Was The First To Tweet It!"
Thankfully (!) everything turned out okay today. A woman in the Governor Office Building mistakenly thought she heard “hostage” over an intercom, and the SWAT teams and other law enforcement officers are leaving the scene.
It's been a roller coaster of emotions and information over the last few hours, and I expect that we'll all be talking about what happened today for some time.
Interestingly, a few of the first Twitter updates came not from law enforcement sources, journalists or people in the building -- but directly from Lt. Governor Peter Kinder. He said:
Then minutes later:
10:34 a.m.: Chopper overhead as hostage negotiators are on the scene...
10:39 a.m.: Apparently it's unfolding on fifth floor Governor office bldg.
There was no reason to doubt him at the time -- there was no confirmation from law enforcement, but he's the Lt. Governor, I told myself, and he must have the inside scoop.
Shortly thereafter, both Kinder's spokesperson and Kinder's Deputy Lt. Governor passed on the following information:
There was nothing ambiguous about this message, since deleted from the @gmcelyea and @jerrydowell accounts. It was a "huge situation," and there was enough information (I assumed) about shots being fired that it was appropriate for public distribution.
Meanwhile, Kinder thought it would be wise to rush onto LIVE television to share unconfirmed information. Speaking with KTVI, he described a "ghastly difficult situation," where "apparently a hostage situation has developed." He also reported that "people in the neighborhood are reporting shots fired," and even asked viewers to "pray for the hostage."
Watch it:
Did you also catch Kinder's proud claim about his crack Twitter reporting? "I was the first to tweet it!" he exclaimed. In the middle of what he had just breathlessly described as a "ghastly difficult situation," it nice to see him stay focused on the big issues.
To be clear, there were a lot of police and troopers in the area who were treating the situation very seriously, and it was downright disconcerting to hear about assault rifles on Madison Street. No one would fault any official or citizen for being very concerned about what was happening. But we're talking about public officials here, and their judgment in sharing information with a frightened public.
