Boy killed with PA State Senator's handgun

[Beren]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06206/708449-100.stm

The local press is already sharpening their knives on this story. State Senator, Republican, supporter of the right to keep and bear arms, firearms that may have been stored in a "reckless" manner, and a dead 14 year-old boy.

To be honest, though, State Sen. Regola may well be culpable in this tragedy. If he was out of town as reported, there was no reason for him not to secure his firearms. It's not yet known whether or how they were secured.

Story:

Investigation continues in boy's death with lawmaker's gun

Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

GREENSBURG -- It could take weeks to determine how and why a Westmoreland County teen was killed with a pistol that belonged to his neighbor, state Sen. Bob Regola of Hempfield.

State police and District Attorney John Peck said today there still are many questions surrounding the death of Louis Farrell, 14, late last Friday or early Saturday.

While the senator and his wife were in Harrisburg, Louis had been left in charge of caring for their pet dog, state police Capt. Harvey Cole said.

Some time during the night Friday, Louis obtained a 9mm pistol from the Regolas' Glenmeade Road residence, and went into the wooded property of St. Emma Monastery that abuts the Regolas' and the Farrells' next to them.

His parents noticed around 8:30 Saturday morning that the boy had not slept in his bed. His father found him in the woods, about 100 yards from the family home.

The pistol was found nearby. He was pronounced dead at the scene of a gun shot wound of the head at 9:35 a.m. Saturday, Chief Deputy Coroner Paul Cyak said.

State police declined to detail what else was found at the scene, pending further investigation.

It is believed that Louis was fatally shot where he was found, Capt. Cole said.

While police investigate the manner of death -- whether the boy died of an accident, homicide or suicide -- the district attorney will determine whether any charges should be filed against anyone, Mr. Peck said.

Evidence gathered at the scene still is being analyzed, Capt. Cole said. Investigators will work to determine how close the gun was to the boy when he was shot in the head, and whether Louis' and or other people's fingerprints are on the weapon, among other things, he said.

Some of the evidence had been disturbed because Louis' father made attempts to revive him before police arrived, Capt. Cole said.

No one reported having heard any gun shots Friday night or Saturday morning.

There was no note, and police have found no reason for any of the boy's acquaintances to kill him, police said.

A vagrant, about whom residents along Glenmeade Road had complained for squatting on property in the woods, had been discounted early in the investigation as a person of interest. His whereabouts at the time of the death have been accounted for, said Trooper John Zalich, the lead investigator on the case.

At least one other handgun was found in the Regola house, police said. Officers declined to comment on how secure the weapons had been kept.

Mr. Peck said there is not clear evidence that Sen. Regola, a first-term Republican who supports the constitutional right to bear arms, was reckless in the way he stored his guns.

The senator has a permit to carry a handgun.

 

[ApexinM3]

A tragedy, indeed

I'm curious: would the Senator be liable if it turns out the weapons were secured properly but the measures taken were bypassed (I.E. jimmied lock, etc.)

This does open up a lot of questions:
1. How did this kid know where said weapon was?
2. How did kid obtain said weapon?
3. If kid was dog sitting, why would he be handling a weapon in the first place?

I can see the media making a big stink over this already...:banghead:

 

[XavierBreath]

The boy took property that did not belong to him from the home of his employer. That constitutes theft. This was not an innocent boy who went into the senator's home to feed a dog and suddenly had a 9mm assault pistol jump up off a table and chase him into the woods gunning him down in cold blood. This boy was a thief who had no respect for another person's property. Of course, how the weapon happened to be in the wooded area with the boy is in truth, speculation. So are any thoughts on how the weapon was secured.

I am sure the boy's parents, in their grief, will try to project the blame for their son's death anywhere but on their son. For to recognize that the 14 year old is responsible for his own demise is to recognize that the parents did a sorry job of teaching him to respect other people's property. The parents are not ready to admit their own culpability.

Sadly, the various political agenda weilding factions will so twist the reality of this tragedy to suit their own means, the family will never know who was truly at fault. That person was Louis Farrell. The senator, the gun maker, St. Emma Monastery, will all, no doubt, have fingers pointed in their direction. That is wrong. Unless another person is involved, who took the young man at gunpoint into those woods to kill him, Louis Farrell is the person at fault.

 

[HighVelocity]

XB nailed it.

 

[limbaughfan]

My question is why would a kid shoot himself,even if he found a gun,at 14 he should have been smarter than to shoot himself.

 

[Destructo6]

Um, he committed suicide. The "how"s really shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Don Gwinn]

The talking point will be that this kid might have been a thief, but "he didn't deserve to die for that!" If the Senator hadn't had a gun--if he'd only had some porn laying around, for instance, the kid would have taken that, gotten caught, and learned his lesson.

 

[RS2]

Perhaps we would all be well advised to wait until the evidence has been analyzed before we take too strong a position on this story. If the boy shot himself, the evidence should establish that fairly conclusively. If a third person were involved, our opinions might be different.

 

[Beren]

An update, from a different area paper:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_463410.html

Scenario around teen's death unclear

By Paul Peirce
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

A Westmoreland County teen will be laid to rest this morning as authorities grapple with questions about how the boy was shot in the head with state Sen. Bob Regola's 9 mm pistol.

State police Capt. Harvey Cole said Tuesday it could take up to two weeks before forensic analysis is completed on evidence that could enable investigators to determine how Louis A.J. Farrell, 14, of Hempfield, was killed.

"This investigation is looking at three possible categories: suicide, whether it was an accident, or a homicide," Cole said.

Farrell's body was discovered about 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the woods behind his home by his father, J. Douglas Farrell, a Greensburg attorney.


Authorities said Louis Farrell, who would have been a freshman this fall at Greensburg Central Catholic High School, died of a single gunshot wound to the head. They said the handgun found near the body is registered to Regola.

The first-term Republican lives next door to the Farrell family. Louis Farrell was caring for the Regolas' dogs while the family was in Harrisburg Friday and Saturday morning.

District Attorney John Peck said it is unlikely that Regola could face criminal charges in connection with Farrell's death.

Although Regola's gun was not secured with a trigger lock, Peck said information from investigators indicates that Regola was not "reckless" in allowing access to the weapon and that it was not stored haphazardly.

"It was not left out in an area where anyone would normally see it," he said.

Peck would not say where the pistol was stored in the house or speculate on how it was taken.

The Farrells became concerned early Saturday when they realized Louis was not in his bedroom and apparently had not slept in his bed, Cole said.

"The family came to the conclusion, after they could not locate him in the house, he might have been out all night. In a frantic search, the father first went to (Regola's) house and then went into the woods where he discovered him ... about 100 yards behind the house," Cole said.

Louis Farrell was last seen in the house at about 10:15 p.m. Friday by his older brother, Jeffrey, who thought his brother was heading to bed, authorities said.

Cole said Regola's oldest son, Rob Regola IV, did not accompany his family to Harrisburg, where the senator received the Legislator of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Sheriff's Association. Cole said the 16-year-old arrived home at about 10:30 p.m. Friday and stayed there through Saturday morning.

According to a search warrant affidavit filed by investigators, Rob Regola IV, a student in the Hempfield Area School District, spoke by telephone with Louis Farrell at about 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Troopers confiscated computer equipment from the Regola home to retrieve possible e-mail messages exchanged between the two youths, who were friends.

"I can tell you that Louis was the kind of child that always made you smile inside and out. He was genuinely kind and caring and very well thought of by his classmates and the entire staff here," said Sister Brycelyn Eyler, principal of Aquinas Academy in Greensburg, where Farrell graduated from the eighth grade in the spring.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. today in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg. Interment will follow in the Greensburg Catholic Cemetery.

 

[joab]

Perhaps we would all be well advised to wait until the evidence has been analyzed before we take too strong a position on this story. If the boy shot himself, the evidence should establish that fairly conclusively. If a third person were involved, our opinions might be different.

As long as we're speculating

Perhaps Louis came in to feed the dog and caught Rob doing something that he shouldn't have been doing.
Rob would probably know where the gun was usually kept.

For some reason the question of why a family with a 16 year old that stayed home needed to hire a 14 year old to feed the dogs keeps coming to mind.
Was Rob too irresponsible or spoiled?

Just a gut feeling, but I think Rob is going to figure peominently in the death

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Stolen? Apparently so. However, it does appear that the senator gave the boy access to a secured gun, the gun being secured within and by the confines of a locked home and being out of sight. Once the senator gave the boy the key to the home, the gun was no longer secure from the boy. Access to the home is access to the gun, or so I bet will be argued.

 

[Live Free Or Die]

They said the handgun found near the body is registered to Regola.

Are handguns 'registered' in PA? Perhaps it's because Regola has a CHP, and lists this particular handgun on the permit? Maybe a PA person can fill me in on how this works.

 

[Colt]

Are handguns 'registered' in PA?

Handguns are registered to individuals, but not listed on a handgun permit, as in NY, for example. In fact, you don't even need a permit to own a handgun in PA, only to carry it concealed. You do have to pass a background check (instacheck), however, at time of purchase.

When the authorities run the serial number, the handgun will come back registered to the last person who purchased it legally.

Edited for clarity

 

[Live Free Or Die]

Handguns are registered to individuals, but not listed on a handgun permit, as in NY, for example. In fact, you don't even need a permit to own a handgun in PA, only to carry it concealed. You do have to pass a background check (instacheck), however, at time of purchase.

When the authorities run the serial number, the handgun will come back registered to the last person who purchased it legally.

I see. I think MD may work similarly -- the state police do their own background investigation at the time of the purchase, and I suppose the serial number is recorded and "registered" to the purchaser in some police database.

 

[Master Blaster]

Handguns are registered to individuals, but not listed on a handgun permit, as in NY, for example. In fact, you don't even need a permit to own a handgun in PA, only to carry it concealed. You do have to pass a background check (instacheck), however, at time of purchase.

Wow PA has a handgun resgistry, this is news to me. How does the handgun registry in PA work??? I have bought a handgun in PA from a licensed dealer, and I cant recall it being registered to me. In fact I am 100% sure registering handguns or even keeping a copy of the background check other than in the gunshops files is a violation of PA state law and Federal Law as well.

I think they mean he bought it legally from a licensed dealer.

How exactly is this situation different than if the Senator left his car in the garage and the keys in the drawer, and the young man took his car crashed it into a tree and died??? He took something that was not his without the owners permission and violated the law, then he missused it and that resulted in his death. Unfortunate but not the owner's fault.

 

[Don Gwinn]

If he bought it new, a records search would lead to his FFL, who would have his 4473 on file.

More likely the cops told the reporter Regola owns the gun because everyone agrees on this point, and the reporter threw in the bit about it being registered to him either because he thought that made it more official-sounding or because he assumed that's how they'd find out such a thing.

I hadn't even noticed that the family's 16-year-old was staying home. That does seem odd. Who knows? Even if they find proof that the deceased boy fired the shot, they won't know whether he intended to fire it or not.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Well, we don't know many of the pertinent facts in this case, but I think it's a little cold-hearted to call the kid a thief. If, as it appears, this is a suicide, then the kid got access to the Senator's firearm and soon thereafter used it to kill himself. Now I happen to believe that a suicide, if serious, will find a way to do the job no matter how everyone tries to prevent it. But (granting we don't know all the facts) this politician appears to have screwed up on a monumental scale. For someone who "supports the constitutional right to bear arms" he has done a fine day's work in setting those rights back.

 

[The Drew]

According to the supreme court of PA, we don't have a "registry" we have records of sales. That means if you purchase a handgun in state that transaction is kept by the state police. you can move here and bring your guns, and they are not registered. the way that almost all handguns that are sold legally are recorded is that PA has a requirement to go through a dealer when transferring person to person. Long guns are not regulated or kept track of by the state police.

 

[glummer]

Clear sight

Master Blaster:

How exactly is this situation different than if the Senator left his car in the garage and the keys in the drawer, and the young man took his car crashed it into a tree and died???

Excellent point! And, similarly, what if it was a knife from the kitchen that was involved?

I think the cultural bias against guns is so strong, that even many gun-rights supporters fall in to the trap of categorizing guns as different, with different legal/ethical requirements. It's scary (and shameful (and I include myself)) that your #15 post was the 1st to see this. :banghead: Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[glummer]

Slippery slope

Malone LaVeigh,

Now I happen to believe that a suicide, if serious, will find a way to do the job no matter how everyone tries to prevent it. But (granting we don't know all the facts) this politician appears to have screwed up on a monumental scale.

How do you figure that?
If the kid died in a "borrowed car" crash, would you blame the owner?
What if they found him with his throat slit, by the Senator's kitchen knife?
Or hanging from a tree on the Senator's rope?

You seem to be accepting the idea that gun-owners deserve to be treated worse than "regular" people, for actions with comparable outcomes.

Can you say "Yowzah!"?

 

[romma]

All I know is

I was accidentally shot with a gun by my brother that a friend of his took from his father when I was fourteen. IMHO there seems to be an amount responsibility on that could be attached to the deceased kid, the gun owner and who knows who else. I am a gun owner and my carry gun is either on my person, or in my safe.

 

[bclark1]

and yea, i'll edit this, the exact same stuff was written above i usually read a handful of replies then want to start typing.

as much as the media's going to disagree, i'm going to say the senator is not culpable. it was his property. if the kid had decided to take his car for a joyride and crashed it, would we blame the senator for having left his keys where someone could find them? in his own house? no, the person at fault, the only person at fault, is the one that pulled the trigger.

homicide, i'm sorry, and my criticisms don't apply. suicide or accident, the kid is a dope and darwin wins another round. i did not come from a shooting family, but about that age, i remember finding a couple holstered pistols in a family friend's place when we were over for some holiday dinner. was i curious, and did i handle them? yes. i shouldn't have. i took a round out of one of the mags and freaked because i couldn't get it back in easily either. but i was still careful, and didn't touch a trigger. it was irresponsible and i shouldn't have done it, but had anything happened, it would have been my fault. you can say maybe a five year old wouldn't understand the consequences of their actions, but any teenager should. admittedly, teenagers are impulsive, and have less responsibility than they did in generations past, but that doesn't mean we should lower the bar. their foolishness will always serve to thin the herd a little, whether it's cars or booze or climbing trees. sad, but that's how other people learn to be careful.

i'm sorry for the kid and his family's loss, though.

 

[Beren]

P-G followup:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06207/708547-59.stm

 

[yhtomit]

swimming pools, as usual a fitting analogy

It may have been suicide.
It may have been murder.
It may have been horseplay.

All of these things could have been equally fatal if Regola had had a covered swimming pool that his housesitter uncovered against Regola's wishes and then ended up drowning. Swimming pools are relevant esp. when one looks at the numbers killed in accidents each year, and their discretionary nature makes them a good fill-in-the-blank when people talk selectively (re: firearms) about the "need for such dangerous things."

(And in a tie-in worthy of a TV special villifying hypocritcal pundits, the late Carl Rowan thought his hot tub -- which is just a little, heated, bubbly swimming pool -- was worth shooting an intruder over: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Rowan)

timothy

 

[Father Knows Best]

Swimming against the tide here

I don't know the facts beyond what is in the news stories above. I will say, however, that I would consider it to be negligent to leave an unsecured handgun in my home when I know a teenager will be in the home unsupervised. It is entirely foreseeable that a teenager will snoop, and that natural curiosity may result in that teenager picking up and "messing around with" the gun. Given the lack of familiarity that most kids have with guns and gun safety these days, an unintentional discharge is also quite foreseeable if the gun was loaded, or if ammo was also available and unsecured. It can reasonably be anticipated that many kids who find guns and ammunition, and know that no adults are around, are going to play with them and perhaps even try to load them.

I'm not saying that the Senator should be prosecuted for anything, or even held civilly liable. I will say that, IF he indeed left the handgun unsecured (such as in an unlocked drawer or cabinet and without a trigger lock or similar safety device activated), while KNOWING that the teen would be in the house unsupervised, then he did something wrong. I would NEVER permit a babysitter or dogsitter or house-sitter or other kid to be unsupervised in my house without first securing all of my firearms.

I will now seek cover in anticipation of the inevitable barrage that will be heading my way shortly....