"gunfight" and "exchange of gunfire"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Additionally, there were "ear-witnesses" who claimed to hear gunshots both
in the morning before Dzhokhor was found and in the evening when he was
being approached.

It seems to me that, unless someone was actually there, one should be
skeptical of anyone claiming to 'know' what has happened.

DanG


On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "gunfight" and "exchange of gunfire"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 4/23/2013 07:41 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > > said they were being fired at.
> >
> >Like the National Guard at Kent State?
> >
> >A member of the SWAT team that arrested him told CNN this morning that
> they
> >approached the boat with caution when he surrendered because "we thought
> he
> >might have a weapon."
>
> Jon, you know better than this.  They thought he might have a weapon
> before they approached him.  That is not evidence -- on either side
> -- about whether he actually did have a gun.
>
>
> >There may have been a gun. But people are claiming there was a gunfight
> >when, so far, nobody's reported a gun.
>
> Both Victor and I have said there are "reports" he had a gun.  What
> we perhaps lack (although surely others have, or can refute) is
> reliable confirmation.
>
> Joel
>
>
> >Even if there *was* a gun, so far there isn't any, if you catch my drift.
> >"Gunfight," etc., were the wrong words.
>
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