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During a Monday night press conference, Madison Chief of Police Shon Barnes was asked about transgender rumors regarding the alleged shooter, and he suggested how “she or he or they may have wanted to identify” had nothing to do with the events that took place.

In a video posted by LiveNOW from Fox, a reporter off-camera noted that questions of whether the shooter was transgender had been raised.

Barnes replied, “Yes, I don’t know whether [the shooter] was transgender or not, and quite frankly, I don’t think that’s even important. I don’t think that’s important at all.”

He continued, “I don’t think that whatever happened today has anything to do with how she or he or they may have wanted to identify. And I wish people would kind of leave their own personal biases out of this. We had people show up to work today to help kids be better who are not going home…”

Barnes concluded his answer, saying, “So whether or not she was, he was, they were, transgender, is something that may come out later, but for what we’re doing right now, today, literally eight hours after a mass shooting in a school in Madison, it is of no consequence at this time.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.