WHAS11 coverage

Raw interview: Journalism professor on release of the tape

Surveillance video released of Atlantis Plastics shooting

(WHAS11) - People are having mixed reactions after police release shocking crime scene video.

The video shows the shooting rampage at Atlantis Plastics last month in Henderson, Kentucky.

That shooting ended with six people dead including the gunman.

Overwhelmingly, the people WHAS11’s Melanie Kahn spoke to in Henderson are really upset about the release of this surveillance video. 

They say it just reopens the wounds of what happened here on that terrible day.

Some people in Henderson have seen this video.

Mayor Tom Davis says the families of the victims have been warned that the video is released and hopes it doesn’t reopen old wounds.

“It’s a horrible situation that possibly our families have to go through this again.  They’re things they didn’t really want to envision as to how their loved ones lost their life,” says Mayor Tom Davis.

Police say 25-year-old Wesley Higdon shot and killed his five workers and himself after arguing with his supervisor about wearing safety goggles and using his cell phone on the assembly line.

Inside television and newspaper newsrooms across the region, including here at WHAS11 News, the release of the video sparked a debate over how much, if any, to show

WEHT, the ABC affiliate in Evansville, which is seen in Henderson, chose not to show any video.

But the Associated Press posted more video on its website, including video of Higdon pointing his gun at victims.

WHAS11 News asked Indiana University Southeast Journalism Professor Jim St. Clair for his take.

“We’re in the business of revealing information in news and not concealing it, so the instinct, the impulse for a journalist is ‘we’ve got it, we need to air it for our audience,’ so that’s the compelling instinct to go with what we have and do it in a respectful way,” says St. Clair.

St. Clair says that, with the internet and YouTube, he teaches his students that ethical dilemmas about video are often the toughest part of journalism.