Broncos cornerback Tony Carter mocks Aurora movie theater shooting on Twitter

At its best, Twitter is a tremendous source of speedy information and a convenient way to interact with people. At its worst, the network provides a medium for grown men to act like children. Broncos cornerback Tony Carter took that to a new level on Monday night.

After returning home to Denver following a loss to the Patriots, Carter apparently decided to enjoy his day off by catching a movie. At some point he had a horrible lapse in judgment and thought his Twitter followers would find it humorous if he made a joke about the tragic shooting that occurred at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. over the summer. The tweet, which has been deleted, was captured by Denver Sports Nation’s Adam Kinney:

We have seen athletes say some incredibly dumb things on Twitter like this one and this one, but Carter’s tweet is right up there with the worst of them. Naturally, Carter apologized when he came to his senses and realized how offensive the comment was — especially from a player who plays in Denver and should understand how difficult the shooting has been for the community to deal with.

I am truly sorry for the insensitive and inappropriate comment I made last night. It will never happen again.

— Tony Carter(@tonycarter904) October 9, 2012

One of the people who was killed in the shooting was journalist Jessica Ghawi. Her mother, Sandy Phillips, used her own Twitter account to remind Carter that Ghawi would have covered the Broncos if she hadn’t been murdered.

“Class act, Carter!” she wrote. “My daughter would have covered Bronco training if she hadn’t been MURDERED in Aurora JERK. What’s sad is he really thought he was FUNNY! I hope the retweets are from shock & not support.”

People make mistakes, but the fact that Carter thought he could make lightly of the Aurora shooting is almost as baffling as his decision to send such an impulsive tweet.

H/T Media Rantz via @TlkSuperstation