Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/2008 University of Central Arkansas shootings


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   no consensus. Decisions on whether or not to merge can be made on the talk pages. There's no consensus for deletion. TravellingCari 23:30, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

2008 University of Central Arkansas shootings

 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

This article was begun earlier today as a potential ITN candidate. It did not achieve that status. Despite my best efforts to expand it, the plain fact remains this is basically a local crime story with zero encyclopedic value. Ecoleetage (talk) 00:51, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment It is pretty hard to tell if an event is notable less than a day after it began. Likely, it should have waited to be created until after it was clear it was notable.  Who knows, Wednesday, the media be all over it again for reasons we can't imagine now.  This is the problem when Wikipedia is close to being "news".  In otherwords, there really isn't any way of telling if it will be notable in a few days or not.  Maybe in the future we should wait at least 24-48 hours after an event (the event happened exactly 23 hours ago) before we start an article that borders on news.  Maybe we need a "db-toocurrent" discussion.   P HARMBOY   ( moo )  01:02, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * That is an excellent point, Pharmboy. If the story takes a dramatic turn, then I will gladly withdraw the AfD and expand the article.  But I was following the news all day, and I got the impression that this was turning into a typical local crime story.  Ecoleetage (talk) 01:11, 28 October 2008 (UTC)


 *  Comment Merge concur with Pharmboy and suggest a wait and see approach now that it has been created but now feel a merge to the university's article is most appropriate. JJL (talk) 01:15, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Arkansas-related deletion discussions.   -- • Gene93k (talk) 04:19, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of News-related deletion discussions.   -- • Gene93k (talk) 04:19, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Crime-related deletion discussions.   -- • Gene93k (talk) 04:19, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep With two fatalities, almost certainly will be notable, if anything about the media is predictable. No reason not to start it now. DGG (talk) 04:26, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I just updated the article with the names of the four suspects being charged with the shootings. I hate to say it, but this is still just a local crime story -- there is nothing of encyclopedic value here. Ecoleetage (talk) 14:21, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * This is a hard one. I still think we need a way to speedy delete something local as "too soon, but no prejudice against recreating in 72 hours".  Otherwise, we are becoming a primary source, which is a very bad thing.  Not sure how to introduce a discussion on the idea, however.  At this time, I still can't !vote because it is too close to the event to be fair.  Same thing for merge, it is just too soon to tell what we should do.  Any encyclopedia should be reflective, not up to the minute with news.  P HARMBOY   ( moo )  17:09, 28 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Merge to University of Central Arkansas. From what I understand, this is not the case of a random shooting, where a gunman walks onto a campus and starts firing away at the first people he sees.  If it turns out that this is more than a case of two students who were killed by someone they knew, then it might qualify as a "school shooting" as the term is used in the media. Mandsford (talk) 16:28, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep And contextualize, what impact did the event have? It took me less than a minute to find "School spokesman Warwick Sabin said it was the first use of the university's new emergency e-mail and phone call system, purchased last year after the Virginia Tech massacre." With several dozen stories on this already and little doubt follow up stories will exponentially increase that number I see plenty of notability as well as available sources. -- Banj e  b oi   00:06, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge to central arkansas article.Bali ultimate (talk) 00:14, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Schools-related deletion discussions.   —TerriersFan (talk) 00:35, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep, an obviously notable event with plenty of press coverage. Everyking (talk) 05:02, 31 October 2008 (UTC)


 * merge to University of Central Arkansas. Whether to keep and let grow or merge and let grow till a separate article is justified is a judgement call but certainly it doesn't need to be deleted. Double Blue  (Talk) 15:32, 31 October 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.