A Vermont newspaper is apologizing after publishing a cartoon that depicted a deadly night in Las Vegas where hundreds of people were injured and dozens of lives lost.

According to reports from law enforcement in the area, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada fired off several rounds into a crowd of concert goers from his hotel room in the Mandalay Bay resort. He was later found dead with several automatic weapons scattered across the floor. As of the last report, at least 59 people were killed and more than 500 were rushed to hospitals.   

Two days later, the cartoon below was published by the Bennington Banner and got many people’s attention questioning the sensitivity of the picture. Some said they were “disgusted” and tweeted it was a “good reason” to no longer read the publication.

Editors at the Bennington Banner posted to Facebook an apology saying:

To our readers:

Publishing the cartoon by Randall Enos in Tuesday's Banner was not the right time or the right place, especially since Sunday's night's mass shooting hit so close to home for our readers and neighbors.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Sandy Casey, originally from East Dorset, Vermont, who are enduring grief beyond compare today. We apologize to them and others affected.

Our interpretation of Randall Enos' cartoon was that little would be done with regard to gun control measures in the United States even after such an unprecedented tragedy. While we believe that is a conversation that needs to happen in this country, we must first mourn and honor the victims and provide comfort to their families and friends.

We regret publishing the cartoon.

For all other inquiries on the cartoon, we would direct them to Cagle Cartoons, which distributes Randall Enos' work.

Kevin Moran,
Executive Editor, New England Newspapers Inc.