I have a lot of friends who are "tarot people," and can tell you that that's PR spin. The Death card does indeed mean death—death is the very archetype of transition. It usually means some transition short of death, of course, since most people experience mundane change more often than they experience death, but transition from "live" to "dead" is definitely an option. It's most likely that the shooter knows nothing of Tarot, but it's also possible that he knows quite a bit—the card's an appropriate choice either way.