Police: Driver Kills Boy Who Threw Egg At Vehicle

[Spreadfire Arms]

two years ago i was walking to my car which was about 4 blocks away when a car full of drunk teenagers started throwing cherry bombs at me. i was carrying a Sig P220 .45.

rather than draw, i figured they were on a one way street going N/B as I was walking S/B. i hurried on foot S/B so by the time they got around the block to find me i'd be out of sight.

granted if they confronted me, and i was outnumbered, i probably would have drawn.

but since i wasn't "in danger" of being injured by the cherry bombs (i.e. they were landing near me but not so close as to possibly injure me) i didn't think i had the justifiable right to use deadly force and fire on their vehicle.

 

[MechAg94]

I don't have much sympathy for either side of this one. Both are wrong.

We reap what we sow. The shooter will also one way or another.

 

[gunsmith]

when I was a kid

in the Bronx & about 10 years old me and a friend threw dirt bombs at passing cars, what we called dirt bombs were little cakes of dried dirt and we didn't hurt anyone.
A guy got out of his car with a baseball bat and chased us for a half hour
and I never did anything else like that again.
Soon after that my dad stopped letting me hang out with that "friend".
Later that guy went back to the same bridge with another kid and they threw rocks and broke windshields this went on for a week until the cops chased them down with their guns drawn-they weren't caught.
My dad forced me into the Scouts, & never let me hang out with those kids again.
Last I heard one was dead from an overdose and the other is in prison ..... I resented the heck out of my dad at the time but now I wish my dad was still alive to hear me say....thanks dad!

 

[only1asterisk]

I don't have much sympathy for either side of this one. Both are wrong.

Nor do I. The shooter is less than sane and guilty of murder. The junior criminals here bit off more than they could chew. Sometimes life is harsh.

David

 

[TechBrute]

I wonder if the kid would have thrown the egg at someone he knew had a gun...

 

[Khaotic]

Murder, pure and simple - he drove off, collected his weapon AND CAME BACK.
Then he opened fire on them, so this wasn't a bad temper, spur of the moment bout of rage or loss of control, he knew what he was doing.

That's premeditated and intentional, and I would go so far as to say, inexcusable.

From my understanding of the situation from the limited information we have seen, the proper charge is murder in the second degree, not manslaughter.

I'm not a lawyer, but nor am I illiterate.

-K

 

[Janitor]

"I think they defiently deserved a serious beating---not neccesarily killed but oh well."

"Oh well"?

C'mon people. This was a stupid dangerous prank being played by teenagers who were not watched closely enough by their parents.

The shooter was pissed enough to drive home, get a gun, come back, and shoot them, killing one of them and attempting to kill the other. He was gone from the site long enough to get his gun and come back - this was NOT self defense at any level, by any stretch of the imagination. How many kids would he have murdered there if he were actually a good shot?

If this incident hadn't happened, how long would it have been before this guy was pissed enough to kill somebody else for some other reason? This is NOT the way to put a stop to dangerous behavior. There would have been several appropriate responses. Murder isn't on the list.

What teenage boy isn't a jerk now and again? Being an ******* does not mean you deserve to die.

I hope they lock up the shooter for a long, long time.

 

[XLMiguel]

NineseveN - You're right, I stand corrected. They say the mind is the second thing to go, I ferget the first.

 

[Missashot]

This is a very sad situation indeed. Junior had just got his life turned around and got that full scholarship to Harvard and was just celebrating.
While I don't agree that the shooter should have went back home and picked up his gun, I certainly can see why he would be angry. I know that I paid WAY too much money for my car to have some punk @ss kid throw things at it. While I will not kill some over it, I can understand his frustration. It is NOT a funny joke or a prank. (It never has been). My parents would have beaten me to within an inch of my life had they caught me doing something like that.
I agree that there is plenty of blame here. 1.The juvenile delinquents for throwing the eggs. 2.The out of control shooter for not cooling down before coming back and killing someone. 3.And mostly the parents for not having a rats @ss idea as to where their "pride and joy" kids were and what they were doing. And not teaching them to leave other people and their property alone!

 

[NineseveN]

NineseveN - You're right, I stand corrected. They say the mind is the second thing to go, I ferget the first.

Lol, I like that, might have to borrow that quip from ya.

 

[TheEgg]

Does no one care about this from TheEggs point of view?

Eggicide <shudder>.

 

[Janitor]

*brrrrrr*

Sorry. Never thought about the poor egg. Have to wonder now how the chicken must be suffering over the loss.

 

[NineseveN]

This is the difference between involvement and commitment. The chicken was involved, the egg was committed.

 

[Kjervin]

My thoughts

1. - Not so sure the antis willfind this case of much use. They like stories of multiple killings or where someone shoots a cherished relative on by mistake. As we have seen so far onthis thread, people can understand why the shooter shot (even if they think it was an overreaction) and what the shooter was responding to was potentially dangerous (even if he was not in danger at the time he shot). I am sure there are stronger cases for them to bring up to make their point.

2.there is a difference between a prank and mischeif. This was not a prank. A prank is egging or throwing TP in the trees of your ex-girlfriend or math teacher. These kids chose to have fun by messing with total strangers without any thought to the consequences. If someone had to die as a result of their actions, it is more appropriate it is one of the perpretrators that someone passing by. As a point to ponder, they were still there by the time that the shooter got back. I take that to mean that they would egg cars until they ran out of eggs, the police came, or they caused someone to drive off the road. The thing that causes me to not have too much sympathy for the kids is that (and I realize that I am attributing this to them as opposed to having any proof) if someone did get injured as a result of their actions, the kids would be as like to think it was "cool" as be mortified for what they had done.

3.Returning to the scene after leaving is never a good idea. The shooter showed bad judgement and should have to face the consequences of their actions (including jail time). Assuming the guy has a conscience at all, even if he is never caught, he will still suffer for what he has done. He needed to have learned that sometimes it is not your place to right all wrongs.

4. I wish this story was a bigger story then it is. Maybe then kids and adults alike could learn something from the mistakes of others and not make those mistakes themselves.

5.To those who expressed the idea that kids will be kids: the problem is that you cannot reason with life. Maybe the parents didn't think the mischief was a big deal, but rightly or wrongly, life chose to give them a dead child because of it. Maybe if the parents thought it was a bigger deal, their child would not be dead. Bottom line, the kids died because he had character issues and was unlucky enough to run into someone who also had character issues. Sometimes you survive those meetings, sometimes you don't.

Kj

 

[Dave Dembinski]

I guess I'm the only one around here that ever egged or TPed anyone's house when I was a kid.

Houses don't generally careen off the road into a tree when you throw an egg at their windows. They do take just as long to clean dried egg off of, though.

These kids are idiots and deserve a punishment severe enough to convince them not to try it again, but I'm with NineseveN. The shooter should be locked up for a very long time.

 

[Sistema1927]

Cold blooded murder. Lock the shooter up forever and throw away the key.

He left the scene, and came back with a gun. That is pre-meditated murder. There was no threat to his life at the time of the shooting. There is no valid defense for this act of violence. I hope he never sees the light of day again.

 

[NineseveN]

Houses don't generally careen off the road into a tree when you throw an egg at their windows.

Someone owes me a new keyboard.

 

[MICHAEL T]

If you were driving along and got a Brick thru your windsheild Would you feel it would ok to defend yourself then. I was almost killed from a brick thru the wind shield of my 18 wheeler(hit just to my right) I did suffer minor injurys and I will say if I would have had a pistol likely lead would have been flying. They were also 16&17 year olds and court didn't do crap to them.
What driver did was wrong but the others should be charged for the death of their friend also. They didn't pull the trigger, but set the event in motion by their actions.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

The shooter is less than sane and guilty of murder. The junior criminals here bit off more than they could chew. Sometimes life is harsh.

And that is the most succinct summary I have seen. Bravo!

 

[bluto]

The shooter committed premeditated murder. He's a moron, a murderer, and a disgrace to gun owners everywhere.

Good thing some kid somewhere didn't play with matches outside that guy's house. I can just imagine him running outside and gunning down "little Billy". Mechanic botches a brake job on his car? Heck, this guy coulda' died! Time to run home for the Glock 21! Someone cuts him off on the freeway? Get his liscense. Plenty of time to go home, load up, and teach that guy a lesson.

He was not hurt severely enough to even have to go to a hospital. His life was no longer in immediate danger. He was not defending his life. He did not call the police. This guy should be locked up for good.

Substitute "water balloons" for eggs in this scenario. Could have caused just as much damage. Kids have been doing stupid things for thousands of years. Sometimes they cause great harm. Then they deserve to be punished. The kids may have committed assault. But it was not assault to committ murder. They may have gone to jail. O.K. Good. Their parents may have been sued in civil court. O.K. Good.

But if the shooter had called police, they certainly would have been caught and punished. I didn't know that we now approved of the death penalty for kids who throw eggs.

 

[Kjervin]

If the kids committed an assualt, which is a felony, and someone died, why isn't a felony murder charge being considered? Why aren't the parents blaming the other kids who convinced their kid to go 'a eggin'?
Kj

 

[athlon64]

Well, I'm sure all of those "kids" now know what can happen nowadays when you inflict a stupid random act on a stranger. They could just as well have done it to a car full of gang members and things may have turned out much worse. Lesson learned -- there are very dangerous people out there kiddies... have fun, but respect others and their property.

As for the shooter, he shoulda just called the cops on 'em.

 

[odysseus]

The kid deserved it. I have no tolerance for morons who damage other people's property

. What's your dysfunction? What happened to you in your life?

Yeah, teenage prankster deserves homicide by adult. Truly sad for anyone to actually write that down.

...taking a deep breath now. Calm... calm...

 

[Spiphel Rike]

These kids sound like complete idiots. Getting hit through an open window by an egg will screw with your ability to drive, he could have gone off the road and killed someone or caused a car crash. He shouldn't have killed them, they shouldn't have thrown stuff at him.

I would be very understanding if he administered a beating to both of them, or at least a good old blast of pepper spray. The kids' parents were obviously not doing their job, any court case would result in a negligible punishment.

This shooter does deserve a punishment, manslaughter at the least. he makes us all look bad, but those scumbag kids make people my age (17) look bad too.

there should be a compulsory public flogging for kids caught doing this.

 

[MikeB]

Everyone should belay this premeditated murder stuff for the time being, if they don't even know who the shooter is. How do they know he actually drove home and retrieved a firearm? As usual our "news" people wrote an article with incomplete, unproven "facts" thrown in.

Of course regardless, this is likely a very very bad shoot. Personally I have less than zero sympathy for the juvenile deliquents involved in the story. It is never OK to vandalize others property or risk a catastrophe, just because it's a prank and you're a teenager.