My initial observations:
The Maryland mall shooting in Columbia, Maryland that occurred on Saturday, January 25th, 2014, was primarily a social media news event.
This event was exactly the type of scenario that confirms how fast things can move, and how, as Public Information Officers, we need to have our social media systems and procedures in place. Social media is really the only way to quickly communicate critical information to the media and public.
This event was unusual in that it was essentially over within an hour, from what I could tell. Local TV stations were apparently unprepared to cover it, because there was apparently no live coverage from the scene. National news media were grabbing photos from citizens' social media feeds to illustrate the story.
Below, I put together a selection of tweets that I grabbed during the event.
Information broke fast