[John H K]

The child is 9 years old. All she saw was the color of a gun. Didn't know the make or model or bullet specifications. She's a little girl in a terrifying position. What is so very difficult to understand about that?

You're missing my point. MOST people can't ID a handgun and it's not that I find it suspicious that the girl couldn't ID the make.

I just find it strange to have "dark colored handgun" reported, instead of "handgun."...again, having seen or heard thousands of crime stories with a suspect at large who used a handgun, not a one said "dark colored handgun"...it was always "handgun" if there were no specifics on the gun reported.

[homeschool mama]

Oh...so you're against the adjective 'dark' in describing the handgun. ok. If the media only used the word 'handgun' would you question that as well, knowing the type or size wasn't mentioned?

[r9etb]

I just find it strange to have "dark colored handgun" reported, instead of "handgun."...

It's not strange. Put yourself in the cop's place. The girl says she saw a gun.

Q: "Can you describe the gun?"
A: "Well.... I don't know how to describe it."

Q: "What color was the gun?" A: "It was dark-colored..."

Q: "OK. Can you tell me how big it was? Was it bigger or smaller than my pistol?" A: "It looked smaller...."

And then the cop releases the information as part of the description. You never know what will help.