This stinks!

I'll bet those 4 punks (and that's exactly what the little scumbags are) won't ever TP a house again. The one that got shot didn't die - maybe he'll take something away from the experience besides some lead shot.

That said: The homeowner went overboard. What ever was happening was happening outside his home not in it. Castle Doctrine doesn't apply. He should have gone back into his house and called the cops.

I hope the stupid gets charged with assault with a deadly weapon and does a little hard time.

Unfortunatly there are bad apples in every crowd.
I don't know what else there could be to this story ... kids were T'Ping a house and the owner shot them. Sounds the guy just lost his temper beyond reason or was sociopathic, or really grotuesqly irresponsible.

I am betting this guy gets indicted on assault with a deadly weapon.

Really?

You are elderly.

You are inside your house.

Someone you don't know is running around your house -- maybe several someones -- climbing on things, making a racket, and covering the windows so you can't see out.

Your adrenaline kicks in, you fear the worst, you grab your home defense weapon, and head out to deal with this attack.

There are any number of endings possible.

Would that happen to me? Probably not. I would imagine the dude with the TP would become a little uncomfortable while we waited for the police. It might bother him a little that I'm holding him at gunpoint. He might even argue that it was just a prank.

Here's a thought: if you're a compulsive prankster, you might want to reconsider playing pranks on people who might think you're a gang about to play "home invasion" at their house.

Not everyone is cool, calm, and collected in the presence of trespassers.

Maybe pranks are fun because it's a little risky.

Maybe there's more risk in today's society than in times past.

Maybe a better idea is not to trespass and deface someone's property.

You never know when someone will feel mortally threatened by what you think is a prank.

We don't know what the homeowner was thinking. On the face of it, it looks like an overreaction on his part, but none of us were there or know if there is any back story.

That being said, I don't have any sympathy for the kids. When you set out with the purpose of messing with someone elses property, you've got to take into consideration that they may not like it. If you don't know them, you've also got to take into consideration that they may respond in a fashion that is not nice and predictable.

All that, and Arfin beat me to the punch...

Here is a situation where a shotgun filled with rock salt would have been appropriate.

It stings like the dickens, is not lethal and provides a life long lesson.

Its also good against spirits.

So I guess no one here ever went TPing as kids.

Here is a situation where a shotgun filled with rock salt would have been appropriate.

It stings like the dickens, is not lethal and provides a life long lesson.

Click to expand...

No, it wouldn't.

You don't shoot someone to 'provide a life long lesson'.

You shoot some one to 'not die first'.

Bad Shoot, IMHO. Yeah I understand it's a risk, but he left his house to confront 4 people outside...... Wasn't a 'Me or Them' thing off of the scenario given.

When I moved into my first house in KC, I was staying at the house to make sure our stuff was secure as we were moving in. I hear some talking and whispering in the back yard through the porch screen door I look out and there is a boy and a girl that must have come from the party down the street sneaking up to the door. Probably looking to get into the house either to burglarize it or maybe just looking for a place to make a little nooky.

I had my 12 ga with me. I let them get about 20 feet away from the door, flipped on the flood, racked the slide on the 12 ga and said "what the hell are you doing.". I blinked and they were gone. The guy cleared the fence like a deer!

They were on his property without his permission and doing harm to that property. I believe he has a right to protect said property. I know I would...

I'm too old to fight and I'm too old to run...And I have horses on the property too...Choice? house gun...

I hope he (the shooter) gets off scott free. It's bull crap that a person has to put up with this sort of thing. Call the police? Half hour later they arrive...

I'm betting that there is more to this story.

I know you NEVER snuck onto a neighbor's property when I was growing up. Of course most of them were livestock folks and tended to come out armed to check any disturbance.

The guy cleared the fence like a deer!

Click to expand...

Fore feet first?

Fore feet first?

No, but he did look like an Olympic hurdler!

Probably more to the story...However, the dude was wrong...He left the safety of his home to go outside and confront them...If what we know is all there really is to the story, he should be in bigtime trouble...

Couple of points

What, in the name of Beelzebub's left bollock, is a 14 yr old doing out at 01:00 ?

Why (apparently) 3 separate shot patterns on the same individual ?

As long as the kids were not trying to break into the house, I would have called the police and waited for their arrival while standing guard inside the house to be sure they were not trying to break in.
I don't know the entire story or what the law is in that state regarding deadly physical force. Not being personally threatened with DPF and shooting a kid for a T-Ping, is not something I'd want to live with.

Let's see, a 14 year old kid... 1 A.M...

Am I the only one wondering what the heck the kid was doing running around in the middle of the night? The best thing I can see coming of this, is a little increase in parental supervision.

Man a bunch of you guys must have been some pretty tame kids! No offense intended.

When I was 14, I was getting into the habbit of sneaking out for mischievious purposes with my friends.

I can understand parents needing to control their kids. (Hell my mom tried REALLY hard, and didn't get very far.)

But the fact is teen age boys will be teenage boys. Even if you pad-lock them in their room and bug their cell phones.

Harmless pranks are way different than malevolent intent, and while we might want such things to discontinue, that fact is we will always have to be prepared to try and seperate the two when they occur.

Warning shot maybe? I know a lot of folks don't like the concept of a warning shot, but in this case I think it would've ended the situation without a guy getting shot. And the homeowner might face a charge of discharging a firearm in city limits or some such law, at worst.

I'm new here, but it sounds like it was likely a reasonable reaction to an incursion on one's home.

As I've referenced here before, this is a good time for the racking of a shotgun to provide all the deterrent necessary.

I know, I speak from experience. We did this as a kid. Not at 1am though. Home owner caught us in the act, he racked his shotgun and gave a non high road verbal command, and I ran faster than ever before.

Now, this being at 1am changes the situation a little. Maybe he's had prior break-ins, maybe he lives in a not-so-nice neighborhood or maybe his home is isolated. But I'm still gonna say bad shot.

Man a bunch of you guys must have been some pretty tame kids! No offense intended.

When I was 14, I was getting into the habbit of sneaking out for mischievious purposes with my friends.

I can understand parents needing to control their kids. (Hell my mom tried REALLY hard, and didn't get very far.)

But the fact is teen age boys will be teenage boys. Even if you pad-lock them in their room and bug their cell phones.

Click to expand...

I suppose they can't use the sure-fire control measure these days that my folks had. It's called a razor strap, and it hurts like the blazes.

I never made the same mistake twice.

call police, make description, and stand by. he will soon, no doubt, wish he had chose differently very soon now.

Sorry, I call bad shoot. Absolutely no imminent threat to life or limb. He's inside -- they're outside. Even if they were there to break in, they hadn't done it yet. Lock the door, call the cops, and get your gun ready.

He needs to go to jail.