Sure we can sit back now and apply these labels (and I don’t disagree with ones you have applied) but that’s not what happens in the news at the time when there is not enough information. The terrorism label comes out for certain types of attacks (or the “is this a terrorist attack” rhetorical device) and the shooting label comes out for others.
I get that sometimes you only have a little information (that someone was shooting a gun) and nothing about what those bullets did. That is okay for early reporting but they will still be calling this guy a shooter today, not a killer or anything else.
I think we do ourselves a disservice in how we cover these types of incidents by using neutral language that downplays the event.
