Comments

1
Since I have dogs, I would have known all about the fact that kids were trying to get in to my house well before they even made it to the porch. Just saying.
2
Um, this is not a tragedy. This is why it's important for private citizens to keep guns. The tragedy would be these animals getting away with a home invasion unharmed.
3
I think the boy was not "running away from the crime he tried to commit." He was "trying to run away from the crime he did commit." Sad for everyone.
4
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not licensed in Florida), but if I remember correctly, Florida was the first state to enact the "Castle Doctrine," which basically means that if someone is in your house illegally, he's fair game. Front, back, sideways - it doesn't matter.
5
Has the Stranger mentioned the local racially motivated beating that occurred last week? it's getting national attention.

http://current.com/news/92461579_attack-…
6
@4:
Ever shot anybody in the back??

Didn't think so...
7
Too bad for the boy but if you terrorize someones house you should expect to be met with deadly force running away or not.
8
A thief, is a thief, is a thief, regardless of the race baiting argument you are trying to drag everyone into...
9
Keekee: Absolutely. New Year's Eve 1979. A 14-year-old Mexican boy driving down the street at midnight shooting at people on the sidewalk out of the window of a car.
10
Jesus, you guys, he was a fifth grader. Had he lived, he would have had plenty of time for redemption.

My heart breaks for his family and for the shooter, who has to carry the knowledge that he killed an eleven-year-old for the rest of his life.
11
If he's doing this at 10 years of age, what would this "child" have been like at 15 or 18? Tragic on so many levels. And the mom should be at least partially blaming herself.
12
5280, how did you deal with that? Given the circumstances you've described it certainly seems like it was justified, but it must have fucked with your head in the months that followed.
13
On one hand - It is sad that such young children are capable of committing such brazen crimes. Says something about the state of certain segments of society, etc. etc.

On the other hand – Good! Too bad he didn’t shoot all three. I don’t care if they were 12 or 21 or 50 years old and I don’t care if they were black or white or green. This is exactly why guns in the home are viewed as a positive thing by many people.
14
If someone breaks into my house while I'm home:
a) I'm going to assume they have a deadly weapon (you'd be stupid to break into an occupied house otherwise)
b) I'm not going to give a fuck what color they are
c) I'm gonna shoot them before they harm me or my family
15
@10,

Maybe, but unfortunately many kids who get sucked into criminality at such an early age never manage to break out of that cycle.
16
Sure, but where's all the outcry for the black-on-black shootings?
17
@susanswerphone...

"animals"?

"terrorize"?

Granted, I'd be scared shitless if anyone broke into my house. But once someone is running away - where's the need for deadly force?
18
Months? How about years? Pretty heavy-duty shit alright. After hearing enough people over enough time tell you "you did the right thing," you start to believe it yourself, but it takes a while.
19
@9 - Dude, you're an animal! And I mean that in a good way.
20
@18: Hence whiskey.
21
It should not be legal to use deadly force against someone who no longer presents a threat. If they're running away with no weapons in their hands, only a coward shoots.
22
If you want to do a story on race and crime Charles why not one on that 90 year old Auchwitz survivor who was murdered by 3 young black people- litterally mauled to death by them. Even the girl's mother admitted she was not poor, only greedy.
2 weeks later an 80 year old Jewish man WITH CANCER was killed in a robbery in the store HE WORKED AT (80 years old with caner) in by a young black man (who never worked an honest day in his life.
Or the 94 year old Korean store clerk killed by a young black women who she caught stealing a bag of potato chips.
Yet both groups get slurred at greedy at "explotative" by the black establishment.
The black establishment demands we see these hate crimes as ones where the perp is a victim. They are no more the victim then the people who killed Emit Till were.
Why not talk about black-on-Jewish crime?
Or black-on-Asian crime?
Black "civil rights" leaders harp on both groups a lot but have not a negative word to say about a young black person wearing $800 sneakers and $4000 worth of gold chains who would kill an elderly person to buy a bottle of Couvasier.
23
Even after all these years, I still don't talk about it much. There are people who have known me for a long time who haven't heard the story. And yes, hence whiskey.
24
This is a murder/manslaughter case, but not racism. The stupid kid was shot for being a shitty burglar in a paranoid gun-nut's home, not for his skin color.
25
Really. That is murder, plain and simple. A child is running away from you and you shoot him in the back? The cowardly piece of shit who shot that kid needs a taste of his own medicine. I would not be surprised if it follows.
26
I'm shooting anyone that I catch in my house. Front, back sideways. Cause it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. That said, I would like to think that I would not fire on a fifth grader. That's like 10 years old, right? I would, however, break his fucking arms. And all of his fingers. Too bad the kid didn't learn that people don't like to have their shit fucked with.
27
If you want to do a story on race and crime Charles why not one on that 90 year old Auchwitz survivor who was murdered by 3 young black people- litterally mauled to death by them. Even the girl's mother admitted she was not poor, only greedy.
2 weeks later an 80 year old Jewish man WITH CANCER was killed in a robbery in the store HE WORKED AT (80 years old with caner) in by a young black man (who never worked an honest day in his life.
Or the 94 year old Korean store clerk killed by a young black women who she caught stealing a bag of potato chips.
Yet both groups get slurred at greedy at "explotative" by the black establishment.
The black establishment demands we see these hate crimes as ones where the perp is a victim. They are no more the victim then the people who killed Emit Till were.
Why not talk about black-on-Jewish crime?
Or black-on-Asian crime?
Black "civil rights" leaders harp on both groups a lot but have not a negative word to say about a young black person wearing $800 sneakers and $4000 worth of gold chains who would kill an elderly person to buy a bottle of Couvasier.
28
The last I heard, I believe 12 states since Florida have enacted the Castle Doctrine. (It's hard to keep up, because the number is growing steadily.) Yes, most of them are in the south and midwest. But there's a big difference between "should be" and what the law is.
29
Read the articles, watched the video. Although we can probably assume that the homeowner is white, nothing actually SAYS this. Also, when the other kids saw the homeowner with a gun, they ran away and were not shot. So why was this kid still there?
30
A surprisingly vindictive and blood thirsty crowd on slog today!
31
Like father, like son? The mother understands.
32
I blame the bullets in the gun.

Naughty, naughty bullets!
33
@23 that's heavy shit man. Sorry you had to got through it.
34
Part of the job description, Rotten.
35
@32 Blame Canada!

With their beady little eyes, flappin' heads so full of lies...
36
@29, you are right. this might have nothing to do with race. i'm in state at the moment where race has taken too central a role in my thinking. i will make the post just guns, an american tragedy.
37
Charles,
Seems most of this thread feels like I do, that it is a tragedy and that it was foolish on the part of the boy to break and enter. Race really has no role in this event.

I believe like @16 that it is a far greater tragedy that the killing of young black males (it is the #1 cause of death for black males between the ages 16 & 24) by other black males nary gets a mention in the press. Derrion Albert's murder in Chicago recently was taped & viewed on YouTube. Seems only then would people notice.

Consider this: What if the opposite happened? It essentially did. Many years ago African-American syndicated columnist, gun-control advocate and former ambassador to Finland, Carl T. Rowan shot and injured an intruder who was white, a teenager (18y/o) and unarmed swimming in Rowan's outdoor pool. The fellow trespassed on Rowan's property.

Both incidents were unfortunate. But, the former ended tragically. Race shouldn't be a factor at all.
38
I don't see any villians here. Just a stupid kid, a startled adult, and a tragedy.
39
@ 5280,
Shitty that you had to do it but by your story the guy was actively shooting people and you did what you needed to do. He wasn't unarmed and he wasn't running away. That was fully justified. I appreciate that you recognize the seriousness of what happened enough that it bothered you and I really hope you're fully over it now.

@ Charles,
As usual, everything is about race with you. The guy shot the kid because he was in his house, not because he was black. Why do you have to see everything through a racist lens?

@ all you bloodthirsty lunatics,
Applauding someone for shooting a child in the back is pretty fucking sick. Really, shooting any unarmed person in the back is pretty fucking sick. Anybody who shoots an unarmed person in the back is a cowardly fuck and deserves a very long jail sentence in federal pound you in the ass prison without your precious little overcompensation to protect you.
40
Well having woken up in the middle of the night to find a stranger in our bedroom going through our stuff, I can tell you it's quite the adrenalin rush.

Fortunately the guy left right away, but if there'd been a gun nearby I probably would have emptied into him without thinking. It's all in the moment.
41
Hope you enjoy hobbling around after you shoot your foot off one night.
42
Oooh, shot in the back. That is srsly fucked up, and it would be even if the homeowner shot a 23-yr-old meth freak REAL burglar -- in the back.

That's befuckered, yo.
43
Another reason why I hate guns. A fleeing elementary schooler can't be killed by a baseball bat.
44
"She blames her son."

Mother of the Year!

BTW did anyone see my favorite black comedy show last night, "The First 48". Man, another leg-slapping episode, let me highlight:

1. Young black, 19 yr old male is found shot dead on a street corner.

2. He was a father of 6 and was thinking about getting his GED. Was found with $100 of 1s rolled up and some crack in his crack. His 33 yr old mama says he was a good boy.

3. 250 people on the street corner saw nothing.

4. Murderer left his cell phone, gun casings, business card and fingerprints all over the scene of the crime.

5. Bingo, murderer was in the database! Young black male, this time 21 yrs old with 9 kids. Time for the picture lineup, aka. they all look the same to me.

6. Murderer is found at his mama's and/or girlfriend's house playing video games with gun hidden in his underwear because, you know, he's too cheap to get a new one and throw away perfectly good evidence.

7. Killer is cuffed and taken to be 'interviewed' with his pants around his knees. Tries to looks tough.

8. Gets into interview room and admits everything, starts crying and then asks when he can go home.
45
Ah, America. Where even on a hippie liberal blog you can find a story about a grown man who shot a feeling ten-year-old in the back, and folks will cheer and bicker about 'race-baiting'.
46
I'm liberal and proudly voted for Obama but will defend my right to protect my property against these little thugs in training. I would never shoot an unarmed kid but I don't fault someone else for what happens in the heat of the moment during a robbery.
47
It was AFTER the robbery, not during.

They should do a chicken-shit-coward test before selling someone a gun. Sounds like half the posters here would fail.
48
Oops - I mean burglary.
49
43
well, if you can drop him with your first swing or two you have a pretty good shot at beating his brains out...
50
The boy was shot in the back. His mother does not blame the shooter. She blames her son. He was supposed to be swimming with friends.

Amazing. A parent who doesn't automatically blame someone else, especially considering how horribly painful it must be for her to lose her child.

While I'd never say the kid deserved to die for breaking into someone's home, the fact is that he had to know that breaking into someone's home was wrong and if he hadn't made that choice he'd still be alive.
51
10/TVDinner: Jesus, you guys, he was a fifth grader. Had he lived, he would have had plenty of time for redemption.

True. He also would have had plenty of time to commit more crimes. Maybe he would've ended up breaking into another home and killing one of the people in it (seventeen years ago my elderly neighbor was sexually assaulted and then murdered by a teenager who broke into her home.) You never know how his life would have turned out, what path he may have chosen.
52
" A parent who doesn't automatically blame someone else, especially considering how horribly painful it must be for her to lose her child. "

Or else she realized he was a little sh*t headed for a lifetime of causing her misery. Maybe she was relieved, plus she saved money on legal fees.
53
It might have been evil to shoot the kid in the back, but to the home owner someone just broke in, and then tried to flee. What if he was running for backup? Lesson - don't break into someone's home, and if you do, don't be surprised if you make them angry.
54
There's a small but quantifiable chance that you're going to get shot any time you commit a felony. Don't like that? Don't commit a felony.
55
"Oops - I mean burglary."

No, it was a robbery. If it was a burglary, no one would have been home and this little sh*t would still be out robbing, hopefully, you.

Again, this mother deserved a medal for blaming her son.
56
The kids future- as a rapist or murderer, as a martyr for human rights, as a thoroughly boring, morally neutral human being, whatever, is a moot point. A child, a stupid, lawbreaking child yes, but a CHILD none the less is dead. Children do stupid things. Good children, bad children, merely ok children all do stupid things. The homeowner may not have done anything that was technically illegal, but we should all think long and hard about what kind of society we live in where this sort of thing can happen. What does it say about the man that his first instinct was not to call the cops or hide but to pull out a gun?
57
Who are these people who seem oblivious to the fact that someone was murdered? Seriously, legally justified blah blah bad seeds blah blah thievery blah blah defending his home blah blah fucking blah.

That man killed someone. A fifth-grader.

Sure, the kid broke the law and did something stupid and illegal and bad... but really, y'all? Really? A child doesn't have an adult's ability to anticipate consequences, a child has a child's ability to anticipate consequences which (as anyone can attest if they've ever met a child or had to extract an explanation for why they did something bad from one) tend to be undeveloped (a child with undeveloped facilities? Shocking!) and lacking in realism.

The shooter - the adult in the situation - should have exercised an adult's ability to anticipate consequences and likely outcomes when he saw the child running from his home and called the police or let them go.
58
@51, I do hope you'll forgive the hyperbole, but your comment does beg a question to me:

Should we just start killing everyone who might commit a crime because people with attributes similar to them commit crimes? 'Cause no matter who you are, you probably know someone who was wronged in a serious way by someone of the [insert arbitrary grouping of persons here] community.
59
Everyone who might commit a crime? No. Just the ones who actually do.
60
"A child doesn't have an adult's ability to anticipate consequences"

Maybe he thought it was a midget? You know, like Gary Coleman.....
61
There are so many variables here. Was it dark in the house? Did they know it was a child? Could they tell if he was black? Did the kid see the gun then turn to run at the moment of the shot? Did the homeowner fear the intruders had weapons? This child was certainly headed in the wring direction, and would have continued in this vein as long as he got away with it. He was killed because he was where he shouldn't have been. I think everyone should have a gun in their home (except criminals who have lost that right due to their stupid choices in life). Then criminals would think twice before they tried to break into a home. I'm sorry we'll never know if the kid would have cleaned up his life. He made someone feel unsafe in their home and paid the price. Many white people have paid the same price. I would have been scared to death and done the same thing. It's hard to think clearly and see the whole picture when tou're that scared. What would Charles do in the same situation? That would be different, wouldn't it?
62
The message was heartfelt, despite the typos.
63
Just because you *can* murder someone doesn't mean you should. The shooter's life is going to be a lot more messed up now than if would have he just called the police.
64
"The shooter's life is going to be a lot more messed up now."

Or maybe not. he may not be a bend over backwards pansy you know.
65
we don't know the details at all. we have no idea if the home owner cold-bloodedly shot the kid in the back, knowing full-well what he was doing, or if the guy was in shitting his pants panic mode in the dark and barely keeping it together and was simply not thinking clearly. in my mind these are very different circumstances.
66
You people saying that shooting an unarmed child in the back who was running away from the crime is okay are sick. Exactly the reason why I am so ashamed of this country.

The crime was over and the perpetrator was leaving! I thought lethal force was only legal if you felt you were in danger of being killed yourself. A kid running away is no longer a threat.

I think the mother who doesn't blame the killer should be sterilized for her hateful views as well.

Like the man who killed that Asian kid dancing on his lawn on Halloween some time back (80s or 90s). The kid wasn't even in his house. He was a foreign exchange student. Owner gunned him down. No punishment. If I'd been that kid's parents I would have hated that man and America forever. Oh wait...I already do.

Thanks for reminding me what a shitty assholey country we live in and how many ugly hateful horrid people are out there.
67
Mudede, guns are a fact of life, and regardless of your age, if you break into someone else's home, you need to understand that that is a risk you are taking. Someone failed to properly educate this child, and now he's dead.

Your writing, now -that's- an american tragedy.
68
" I would have hated that man and America forever. Oh wait...I already do."

Boo fucking hoo.

Please wait...

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