It was a tragic scene Wednesday on Ring Road, a pedestrian hit by a semi-truck and killed.
Almost immediately after the accident happened, people took to Facebook and Twitter to post comments on what they thought happened.
READ MORE: Police investigate fatal accident on Ring Road
That prompted Regina Police Service collision investigator Cst. Curtis Warnar to post a plea on his Twitter account, urging the public to think before they run their tongues.
“Some of the comments seeing was a lot of misinformation about the event itself. I mean I’m not even there a few hours and people are already saying ‘this is what happened, I heard this and I heard that,'” Warnar said.
“For people to be passing judgment who weren’t even there, who don’t even have any type of vested interest in our investigation, and to be making comments that potentially a love one could read. I wouldn’t want to go through that, and I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy.”
READ MORE: How Regina police are using Twitter to keep Saskatchewan streets safer
University of Regina information and communication technologies professor Alec Couros warns that the public should be wary of what they’re posting online, since posting a comment on Facebook or Twitter today could be used in tomorrow’s news.
“That story was intended for just a few people end up being on the front page news. That’s really important for us to understand, is the power we have in our hands to shape the news, but also indicating what may of happened might even harm an investigation,” Couros said.
“I think it convolutes our investigation as well, at the end of the day we are experts in what we do, let us do our jobs,” Warnar said.
Warnar just hopes his message will hit home and maybe prevent damaging comments in the future.
“It’s more than just about making a comment, there is so much more at play there than what their comment on social media is,” Warnar said.
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