Police chief refuses to give gunman ‘notoriety’

When law enforcement authorities gathered to discuss details of a mass shooting in West Texas that left seven people dead, there was one bit of information they refused to provide on live television: the name of the gunman. Instead, they decided to release the name through a Facebook post. Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke made it plain why he wouldn’t mention the name at the news conference: ‘‘I’m not going to give him any notoriety for what he did.’’ Even with such restraint, it remained a challenge to curb the spread of the gunman’s name.