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A CNN journalist faced backlash on Tuesday after making an inaccurate comment about the school shooting in Minneapolis, which claimed the lives of two children.
Evan Perez, CNN’s Senior Justice Correspondent, mistakenly claimed on The Situation Room that semi-automatic firearms could ‘shoot dozens of bullets with a single trigger pull.’
Semi-automatic weapons – as opposed to automatic weapons – shoot just one bullet per trigger pull.
Perez had been responding to an early report from host Pamela Brown that suggested civilians heard shots going off ‘for several minutes’.
Her guest was quick to offer his explanation – despite it being bogus.
‘These things can shoot dozens of bullets, you know, in just one trigger pull, right?’ Perez said, before being accused of politicizing the shooting.
‘And so what happens in this case is, sometimes they have enough time to to reload,’
‘It’s incredibly terrifying for students to experience something like this,’ he remarked, approximately 90 minutes after 23-year-old suspect Robin Westman attacked the Annunciation Catholic School’s start-of-year mass.
CNN’s Evan Perez was criticized for his incorrect statement that semi-automatic guns could fire ‘dozens of bullets with one trigger pull’ during his discussion of the Minneapolis school shooting on The Situation Room Tuesday.
Semi-automatic weapons, unlike automatic ones, discharge only one bullet per trigger pull. Many observers accused Perez of using the tragedy for political purposes.
Perez, whose reporting mainly focuses on federal politics, added, ‘Incidents similar to this were seen in Uvalde and Newtown, where shooters had ample time to reload.’
‘And the horrific nature of this is, you know, for little kids to be facing this.’
Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed, and at least 17 were injured. The gunman’s motive is still being investigated.
Reportedly armed with a rifle, shotgun, and pistol, he killed himself as police responded to the then unfolding crisis, which happened at around 8:30am when Westman began shooting through the windows of the church, causing confusion.
Onlookers online offered their corrections to Perez, with many – mostly conservatives – offering some scathing commentary on the side.
‘That is factually inaccurate,’ former Ted Cruz communications advisor Steve Guest said on X. ‘A semi-automatic rifle fires one bullet per pull of the trigger. False anti-gun fear mongering during breaking news is sick.’
The students at the Catholic grade school, meanwhile, had just started school on Monday. The buildings for the church and school are interconnected.
Hennepin Healthcare, the main trauma hospital in Minneapolis, said in a statement that they received 10 patients in the shooting’s aftermath, including eight children ages 6 through 14. Seven were said to be in critical condition.
Perez had been responding to an early report from host Pamela Brown that suggested civilians heard shots going off ‘for several minutes’
‘You saw this in Uvalde, you see this in Newtown, repeatedly, where a shooter has enough time to reload,’ Perez, who covers predominantly federal politics, said. ‘And the horrific nature of this is, you know, for little kids to be facing this’
Law enforcement has identified the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who is now dead. His motive remains unknown
As of writing, police’s investigation remains ongoing.
As for Perez, he previously was employed by the Wall Street Journal as a reporter before joining CNN as a justice reporter in 2013. He covers DOJ and national security issues.
Daily Mail has reached out to CNN for comment.
