And in their haste, the three major network news outlets (ABC, CBS, and NBC) relied on a statistic from the anti-gun lobbying group Everytown for Gun Safety which claimed that there had been 18 school shootings since the start of 2018. And since it fits the narrative, why fact check?

"You know, scenes like these today, shootings at schools, an all-too-familiar sight across this country. This shooting, by one count, the 18th just this year. Multiple fatalities at several of those shootings," announced anchor David Muir during ABC's World News Tonight.

That same statistic was echoed on NBC Nightly News when anchor Lester Host lamented: "This horrifying shooting in Florida marks the 18th time gunfire has erupted on a school campus in America just since the start of this year. With more now on these tragedies and images that have become disturbingly common in our country…"