Man Massacres Nightclub. Journalist Does His Own Job on the English Language

According to nbc41.com.

"It was unclear as to whom shot the alleged gunman."

NO! It was unclear who shot the alleged gunman. "Who" is used when the unknown person is the subject of the sentence. "Whom" is used when the unknown person is the object of the sentence. You could also properly say "It was unclear whom the gunman shot."

An easy test is to insert "he" into the sentence and see if it makes sense. You wouldn't say "It was unclear if him shot the gunman." You could say "It was unclear if he shot the gunman."

Looks like my work here is done.

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