Morgan Freeman Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Statement a HOAX, Actor's Bogus 'Sensationalist Media' Post Goes Viral

Reports confirm that a recent statement released by Morgan Freeman, where the 75-year-old actor supposedly blames the media for "sensationalizing" monsters such as 20-year-old Adam Lanza (the gunman involved in the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut), is a hoax. Reddit users recently discovered that the bogus post was actually initially posted on Facebook by a man named "Mark" from Vancouver. The school shooting response has since gone viral on popular social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter. Read on for further details.

Here is the post allegedly written by Morgan Freeman, where the Oscar winner blames these types of violent tragedies directly on CNN, Fox News, and other popular media/news outlets. Reports now confirm that the statement isn't necessarily "fake," but it was not actually released by Freeman:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities.

Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single *victim* of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way.

Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours.

Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem. You can help by turning off the news."

The above quote was never actually associated with Freeman or any reputable news/media outlet, which prompted initial rumors that it had to be a hoax.

The man who actually wrote the post on Facebook (identified simply as "Mark") later commented, "If I know the Internet, someone will attribute the quote to Morgan Freeman or Betty White and it'll go viral."

As Reddit notes, everything does sound better coming from the actor's smooth and deliberate voice.

Even though Freeman didn't write the response, do Mstarz readers agree with what the writer has to say about the tragic shootings?

Rest in peace:

Mary Sherlach, 56; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, 47 (principal); Lauren Rousseau, 30; Rachel Davino, 29; Victoria Soto, 27; Daniel Barden, 7; Josephine Gay, 7; Chase Kowalski, 7; Grace McDonnell, 7; Charlotte Bacon, 6; Emilie Parker, 6; Olivia Engel, 6; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Madeleine Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozner, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison Wyatt, 6. [UPDATED]

For more information on the 26 Sandy Hook shooting victims, Yahoo! News provides a beautiful memorial on the young students and the heroic faculty who lost their lives on Friday morning, December 14, 2012. 

Mstarz earlier reported:

Reports allege that Adam Lanza (from Hoboken, NJ) killed his mother Nancy and father Peter at their home before heading to the Sandy Hook school, where he shot and killed several faculty and young students (between the ages of 6-7) that Nancy may have worked with at approximately 9:40 a.m on Friday (Dec. 14). He then died of an alleged self-inflicted gun wound. Authorities first named the gunman as Lanza's 24-year-old brother Ryan, because the gunman had Ryan's ID on him at the time of the shootings. Apparently Adam had gotten into an argument with his mother Nancy which prompted him to go off on the morbid killing spree. While some initial reports had it Nancy was actually one of the victims found among the carnage at Sandy Hook, new reports confirm that she was shot in the face by Adam at the family's home in Newtown. He then used her car to drive to the school.

Little else is known about Adam Lanza other than that he was wearing a "black battle fatigues, military vest, and bullet proof vest" at the time of the shooting Family members insist Adam was emotionally disturbed and "not well."

An updated report on Yahoo! provides more in-depth details on the gunman as well as his mother, Nancy (Adam was supposedly an honor student at Newtown High School, and Nancy had divorced her husband Peter back in 2008).

Thoughts and condolences go out to those affected in and throughout the Newtown community during the sorrowful aftermath of this tragic event.

RELATED NEWS:

Samuel L. Jackson on Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting: 'Don't Blame Gun Control or Violence in Movies/Games,' Jamie Foxx Disagrees  

Adam Lanza's Hard Drive: Connecticut School Shooting Gunman Destroys Computer Before Massacre, History of Playing Violent Video Games  

Adam Lanza Facebook, Brother Ryan Lanza Claims Innocence in Newtown Connecticut Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting [PHOTO]  

Nancy Lanza's Connection to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT Hazy: Shooter Adam Lanza's Guns Registered to Slain Mother 

Connecticut Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Adam Lanza Identified as Gunman: President Obama Tearfully Speaks on Tragedy

*** Writer's note: The sad reality of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is indeed potent and heartbreaking to us all. Our job at Mstarz is to report on popular/trending social media topics to keep readers informed. And unfortunately "Adam Lanza," "Morgan Freeman hoax," and "Connecticut shooting" are the major topics that are "trending" right now - these are the things that people want to know about. Therefore it is my job as an Mstarz reporter to write on such topics so that the public receives the correct, up-to-date information surrounding the recent devastating circumstances in Newtown, CT. Mstarz apologizes if such reports offend or upset anybody, and our sympathies go out to the family, friends, and community touched by such sorrow.