Shoot Down THIS Incident

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imp

Senior Member
Horrible experience for a 13 year old kid, right? Would he be alive, otherwise? Who knows......imp


"Home Alone Boy, 13, Shoots Suspected Burglar Dead With His Mother’s Gun"

"A suspected burglar was shot dead by a 13-year-old boy who used his mother’s Colt. 45 pistol to defend himself while home alone.
On seeing a man entering the home through the back the young teen from Charleston, South Carolina, grabbed the gun and fired at him.
An exchange of gunfire in the home ensued, resulting in Lamar Anthwan Brown, 31, (pictured above) receiving three gunshot wounds, while his suspected accomplice Ira Bennett, 28, was later arrested and charged."

"Both suspects had extensive criminal records - Bennett has now been charged with first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime."

http://news.yahoo.com/young-boy-13-at-home-alone-shoots-suspected-113457018.html
 

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It it begs the question of why these guys were out of jail as they were career criminals...
 

There are a lot of who knows here.

Since the boy opened fire first it is possible that the burglars might not have attempted to kill him if he had simply kept quiet.
IMO it is a miracle that he wasn't the one who died. On the other hand they might have killed him anyway. Who knows?

Who knows what effect this trauma will have on the boy when he is a man.
Will he feel justified or will he be haunted by knowing that he took a life?
Who knows?

This is not a situation I have ever had to deal with so I certainly don't know.
 
If it were my child I would have preferred he run out the front door if he heard them coming in the back.. or the back door if they were coming in the front.. There was an exchange of fire for crying out loud! That 13 year old could as well ended up as dead as the burglar.
 
It's pretty hard to find the statistics on how many times a responsible armed citizen defends themselves, and others, against an armed criminal. This type of activity is usually only reported on the local news, and the FBI is starting to compile the numbers...if you dig deep at the FBI web site.

There is ONE site, however, that is doing a pretty good job of keeping tabs on these events....the "Dreaded" NRA. Here is their link, and they have documented hundreds of pages of verifiable events over the past few years. Judge for yourself.....

https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/arm...ibutor=0&contentBuckets=8176&geo=#latest-news
 
Good for the boy, I'm glad he used the gun and took action. It would have been a horrible experience for him if he was on the receiving end of a bullet from these armed burglars.
 
Ralphy1 said:
Could have, but he didn't. Let's just say that he carried the day...
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Fortunately for him... BUT it could have went the other way, as the burglar was shooting back... Better to get out of harms way if at all possible. As I said.. if it were my kid... I'd have told him it would have been much smarter to get out of the house rather than have a shoot out with a criminal.. Now if there was no route of escape.. that would be a different story.. but we don't know that.
 
Warrigal said:
There are a lot of who knows here.

Since the boy opened fire first it is possible that the burglars might not have attempted to kill him if he had simply kept quiet.
Conjecture. What might have, could have, should have, is immaterial now.

Who knows what effect this trauma will have on the boy when he is a man.
Most important. That he knew how to handle himself and the weapon suggests strongly he was well-versed in those respects. The psychological aspects are an entirely different matter. The aftermath of self-defense is said to often be as devastating as the event itself. I do not believe that anyone of 13 can be adequately prepared, psychology, for this, in advance. Most adults cannot.
Will he feel justified or will he be haunted by knowing that he took a life?
He will forever feel justified, IMO. Disgusting concept though it is, the saving-grace in this incident is that he did not just wound the man. Such instances of wounding have created issues and consequences beyond belief.
Who knows?

This is not a situation I have ever had to deal with so I certainly don't know.
Click to expand...

One further question, if I may. Had the boy killed the criminal using any weapon other than a firearm, would you-all feel a different reaction to this incident? imp
 
I wouldn't feel differently. Dead is dead. I disagree with your statement around the child feeling forever justified. For most of us taking a life is traumatic. For a child, even more so. He will need counseling, even then it will leave a permanent emotional scar.
 
One report of a handgun preventing a tragedy doesn't cancel out all the weapons whose presence created a tragedy. A good sized loud mouth pup in the yard or house...most reliable security system you can ask for. Of course in theory someone armed could shoot the dog. But the variable on that is the dog barking and then the sound of gunfire...you're drawing a lot of attention to yourself. Even a really desperate intruder will probably skip a house with a dog.
 
Shalimar said:
I wouldn't feel differently. Dead is dead. I disagree with your statement around the child feeling forever justified. For most of us taking a life is traumatic. For a child, even more so. He will need counseling, even then it will leave a permanent emotional scar.
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How do you know this, Shali? For many people, yes. MOST of us, meaning nearly every person, maybe not. For the hunters who kill game, are they "traumatized" by taking those animals' lives?


We all agree the animals are as important as humans, yet we kill animals without subjection to the trauma of killing a person? imp
 
Hmmm. I have a male friend whose father took him hunting when he was thirteen years old. He has never eaten meat since. Case in point. Obviously he was traumatised by the death of that animal. Both of my children refuse to hunt. I do not hunt

either.Hunters have a different perspective about animals, just as soldiers are trained to a different perspective re people. We can quibble over the semantics of most over many, debate the number angels that can fit on the

head of a pin, if you will, but why? Purely to stir the pot? My original post spoke to the effects on the majority, especially children, of killing another person. Animals clearly were not part of the original equation, neither have we all agreed as to the

relative importance of animals to humans.
 
Imp, While I realize the whole point of this thread is to point out an incident where out of sheer luck a child was able to kill a bad guy. But that still doesn't present a strong argument for the second amendment. We all don't think like you or other gun supporters. If I had been a police officer, I could have taught myself to shoot to kill because it might be part of the job description. But in the real world no it would take something drastic for me to take a life.

Naw the centipedes and spiders don't count. But it does bother me when the cats kill birds. It does bother me when my dogs kill or maul creatures that come in our yard. A few years ago a raccoon was out there. In that case they bit him up really bad but he was still alive. Fortunately we still had animal control to dispatch this poor creature. I don't think I could find it in myself to kill him on my own. The whole mentality of hunting escapes me and that's okay.
 
My responses in blue.

imp said:
How do you know this, Shali? For many people, yes. MOST of us, meaning nearly every person, maybe not. For the hunters who kill game, are they "traumatized" by taking those animals' lives?

Shali knows a lot more than most of us. She counsels people suffering the aftermath of trauma.

When my son was a boy I refused to allow him to go with the men of our street to hunt (as in shoot at night using a spotlight) kangaroos. These trips also involved consuming a considerable amount of beer. If the roos weren't dead after being shot they were clubbed over the head with an axe handle. I have no idea what happened to any joeys in the pouch. Yes I think my little boy might have been traumatised by this experience. At the very least he would have been sickened by the brutality and at the worst he might have come to enjoy it.

We all agree the animals are as important as humans, yet we kill animals without subjection to the trauma of killing a person? imp
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I do not agree that animals are as important as people.
We can harden ourselves to killing anything, even people.
The process is called conditioning but it comes at a cost. A psychological cost.
 
Why should he become traumatized and feel guilty. That will all depend on how his family treats him now and in the future. He may become proud of being an independent hero for having the courage to shoot it out with some criminals and win the shoot out. I think he did well. Had it been me, I don't know what I would have done. But I think he did well and needs his families support. No trauma needed.
 
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fureverywhere said:
.... The whole mentality of hunting escapes me and that's okay.
Click to expand...

It does escape me, also, except as amended as a need to survive, i.e., food. I have never hunted in my entire life, though I have used firearms to shoot at targets since age 12. I had the shooters' skills and have no doubt, that had an armed intruder presented a lethal threat to myself or a family member, even back then, I would have used those skills, if the circumstances allowed and dictated it. Haunted by such experience? Not certain, but at 7 or 8 I watched my Dad drown all 4 of my cat's kittens one by one, an experience which did haunt after the fact, but driven to traumatic level? Nah.

The fact is, that under certain circumstances, an individual posing the threat of possible death to an innocent other, invites the ultimate penalty. Certain circumstances invite or dictate, human death. imp
 
Jeez Imp, did you have to mention the kitten drowning thing? If it did not traumatise you that is not to your credit. Guess you
are not much of an animal lover. It certainly traumatised me, and I suspect, many other animal lovers on this forum. In future, a little sensitivity around such subjects would be appreciated I am certain. As for my knowledge around causal links promoting
trauma, hopefully decades of experience have taught me something, unless you are suggesting I am incompetent, my friend?
 
Something to be considered as well. On TV and the big screen...bad guy gets shot and falls over, yup that's it bad guy is now dead or immobile. Not to be ghoulishly graphic from a medically realistic standpoint. A clear direct head shot and the bad guy is going down, if not dead at least in a very bad way. But virtually any other part of your body can sustain even multiple bullet wounds and you might still be functioning...as in if you are a bad guy and amped up enough...being shot multiple times you can still shoot back. Maybe if you hit a big bone like their thigh, they will probably fall down. But if they still have their weapon in reach they can still shoot from the ground. One shot doesn't always magically disable someone. And it's taking aim, if you're hunting a deer obviously you have a big advantage. But a bad guy isn't there placidly grazing in front of you.
 
And as far as the kittens...Imp, jeez...the nurse has your pills ready, now be a good boy. My mother used to relate how every Spring she was allowed a cat and every Fall they just ran off...until my grandmother fell in love with the cat too. That was the one she was allowed to keep. Everything suggests my grandfather was out shooting a cat every Fall. It happened fifty years before I was born and still gives me chills.
 

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