Problem with English Grammar

new_boy   Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:03 am GMT
I found the following sentence in the BBC online news:

"The attack is the third shooting at a US school in the past week."

I ask you about the use of "is" in "The attack is....". As far as I know, the attack itself has occured, but the journalist still use "is" in this context. As an English learner, I will use "The attack was...."

Why does the journalist use "is"?

Thanks

Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5400570.stm
Robin   Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:47 am GMT
The grammar is correct.

So, it is a question of explaning the grammar in linguistic terms.

"The attack is the third shooting"

That suggests that the attack is part of an ongoing series of attacks.

"in the past week"

The last shooting may have happened a few moments ago. The other shootings happened over the last week.

The item appeared on the 'News', which is by definition something that is happening now, or in the very recent past. If it was in the past tense, it would be:

The attack has been the third shooting at a US school in the past week.

("The attack is the third shooting at a US school in the past week." )