Whenever you see one of these telltale signs — kids marching out of a school with their arms raised, someone in a uniform in front of a microphone with a crowd of people standing behind him, an adolescent in schock describing how they escaped — you know that you are witnessing live television coverage of a school or some other mass shooting.
This is your guide to what you will be hearing in the coming hours.
The Dramatis Personae
The sheriff. The lead local (usually county) law enforcement official is the person behind the mike offering condolences and congratulations.
The parent. A parent who has arrived and is either anxiously awaiting their child, or who has found and is hugging them.
(Disclosure: No one has the heart to interview the parent of a child who was killed or wounded. Such people may be interviewed following subsequent mass murders — see "The Cassandra" below.)
The surviving student or other escapee. Survivors who escape before, during or after the killings occur.
The politician. The governor and other political notables who are flown in as soon as possible to address TV cameras and reassure the community. Until they arrive, local elected officials, such as mayors, may be interviewed.
The Cassandra. Someone, local or national, who says that we must stop this bloodshed.
And others.
Congratulation Recipients
First responders. There will be many congratulations to brave men and women who have responded to the shootings, but who usually arrive after the killing is done.
The community. The sheriff or politician or a school board official will, oddly, congratulate the community in which the mass assault and murder occurred.
Students and teachers. The human beings who were assaulted and murdered are especially lauded.
Families and loved ones. Secondary victims sIngled out for prayers and promised support.
Law enforcement. The sheriff and others will congratulate every level of law enforcement — local police and sheriffs deputies, FBI, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (now is not the time to ask why these objects are grouped together), State Police, etc.
Speeches
"We have shown how capable and coordinated we are." Since law enforcement leads the speeches, there will be many congratulations for the cooperation of all the local, county, and federal agencies that flock to the scene following the murders.
"We will survive." Local law enforcement and politicians and school authorities speak of the strength of the community and how it will come together in the aftermath of the mass killing.
"This must never again happen." A warning by an official or victim or survivor about how we must act in order to prevent this from ever happening again.
(Disclosure: As proven in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother, 20 six-seven-year olds and six staff members, or following the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999, no new federal legislation or programs will be undertaken to prevent mass shootings.
THE BASICS"Our prayers and thoughts." The pièce de résistance of speeches if to offer the speaker's, and everyone's, thoughts and prayers to all the victims, survivors, and loved ones of those caught in the massacre.
It might seem strange that so much of the speechifying following mass murders is of such a congratulatory and uplifting nature, but what are we to do otherwise to fight off the pain and horror of what has just occurred, and that will sooner or later recur. (Do you remember that 58 people were shot and killed in Las Vegas last October, or that a gunman killed 26 people, including a baby, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in November?)
So this entire post-massacre ritual is a cultural survival mechanism.