Guidance: On Naming Both Defendants In The STEM School Shooting

As Newscast and Colorado Public Radio have reported, the 16-year-old suspect in the STEM school shooting is being charged as an adult – as is the 18-year-old suspect. We can use the names, though as we have said before we do not need to say them often: "Biographical details are important, but repeating the name over and over runs the risk of glorifying the shooter in some eyes."

On the 16-year-old's name: Court documents identify the suspect as Maya Elizabeth McKinney. But McKinney identifies as a male. If we need to use the name, we should refer to him as Alec McKinney and use male pronouns.

If at any point there's some confusion created because of a reference to the suspect by authorities, talk with a DME about how to explain it.