I had to read the article over several times to make sure what I was seeing wasn't just some sort of misprint.
Read over the article and take note of the use of personal pronouns. Schultz is not referred to as he, she, or it. Instead the words they, them, and themselves are used. Examples:
"The 21-year-old was transported to the hospital where
they died soon after."
"
Their mother, Lynne Schultz..."
"Lynne Schultz said though
they were "scary smart," and planned to design biomedical devices after graduation,
they also suffered from depression."
"
They tried to commit suicide twice in the past by hanging. "
"Though the state's investigative bureau referred to the student as male, Schultz described
themselves as "bisexual, nonbinary and intersex..."
There are several more instances where the third person plural is used to refer to Schultz. The third person plural is sometimes used as a singular pronoun in legal documents to refer to a generic person, but never to refer to a particular person as it is in this article.
I guess the acceptance of bizarre people and bizarre behavior has forced a certain segment of society to adopt bizarre language constructs to accommodate their social whims.
Full article from
YAHOO News:
Tragic New Details About The Shooting Of Scout Schultz, The Nonbinary Georgia Tech Student Killed By Campus Police
Emily Blackwood
The Georgia Tech Police Department received a call around 11:17 p.m. Saturday night about reports of a person with a knife and a gun near campus.
Officers made contact with Scout Schultz, a politically active nonbinary fourth-year student who was president of the school's Pride Alliance club, studying computer engineering — and holding a pocket knife with a tucked in blade.
"Come on man, let's drop the knife," one of the four officers who surrounded Schultz said with their weapons drawn.
"Shoot me," Schultz said.
Despite police insisting for them to drop the knife, Schultz did not and instead moved towards the officers until one opened fire and shot them in the heart.
The 21-year-old was transported to the hospital where they died soon after.
A nearby student shot a video of the incident. Warning, it's pretty hard to watch.
Georgia Tech declined to comment on the incident, other than calling Schultz's death "tragic." Their mother, Lynne Schultz, said they hired a lawyer because they plan to speak out more about their child's death.
"Why didn’t they use some non-lethal force like pepper spray or Tasers?” she asked. It was later learned that campus police don't carry stun guns.
The family's lawyer, Chris Stewart, said the use of force was excessive and said he believed the student was having a mental breakdown and didn't know what to do.
Lynne Schultz said though they were "scary smart," and planned to design biomedical devices after graduation, they also suffered from depression. They tried to commit suicide twice in the past by hanging.
Though the state's investigative bureau referred to the student as male, Schultz described themselves as "bisexual, nonbinary and intersex," on the website for Pride Alliance.
The group held a candle vigil for their president for the past two years and released the following statement after learning of their death:
“They pushed us to do more events and a larger variety events, and we would not be the organization we are known as without their constant hard work and dedication,” the statement reads. “We love you Scout and we will continue to push for change.”
The Georiga Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into Schultz's death and the officer who shot Schultz has not been identified. Their parents want to know if that officer had any training in dealing with mentally impaired suspects.
f you or anyone you know is suffering from suicidal thoughts or feelings, we urge you to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Emily Blackwood is an editor at YourTango who covers pop culture, true crime, dating, relationships and everything in between. Every Wednesday at 10:20 p.m. you can ask her any and all questions about self-love, dating, and relationships LIVE on YourTango’s Facebook page. You can follow her on Instagram (@blackw00d) and Twitter (@emztweetz).
