Creative Loafing’s Scott Henry tries to get clarification from the commander of the Atlanta Police Department homicide unit, Lt. Keith Meadows, about why the police and press incorrectly reported that the Standard’s John Henderson was shot “execution-style” and other unsettling, inaccurate facts.

Ultimately, Henry concludes the rampant misinformation “was brought about by a combination of vague, inconclusive information offered by the police and a competitive news environment in which reporters race to make their stories as definitive as possible – often before all the facts are nailed down.”

Henry goes into much greater detail with Meadows in the piece, but be forewarned its pretty graphic.

Though the police and press are certainly to blame in in this misinformation fiasco, it seems like the unlikelihood of the actual event  – Henderson being shot inadvertently by a stray bullet as the suspects departed – is also key to the quick spread of the inaccurate, easier to believe story about “execution”.