Shot while holding his 3-year-old .... New Orleans

[RustyHammer]

(http://www.theneworleanschannel.com/news/2415101/detail.html)

1 Killed, 2 Injured In Triple Shooting
Suspect In Custody, Police Say

1:03 p.m. CDT August 19, 2003

NEW ORLEANS -- A man who yelled at a passing motorist to slow down paid for it with his life in a Tuesday morning shooting, according to the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office.

The man, Danny Foto, age unknown, was shot in the chest. He died at the scene. Foto's son, Bryson, 3, and a neighbor, Steve Miller, age unknown, were injured. They were taken to Charity Hospital. Their conditions are not known.

The alleged shooter, Louis Schenk Jr., 45, is in custody, police said.

The shooting happened at about 7:15 a.m. in the Lexington Place subdivision, a quiet, upper-middle class neighborhood in Meraux. According to investigators, Foto was holding his 3-year-old and escorting an older child to an approaching school bus, as was Miller, when a car came speeding down the street. Foto and Miller both began waving at the driver, signaling him to slow down. The driver stopped about half a block away, exited his vehicle and opened fire with a shotgun, Sheriff Jack Stephens said.

A witness said the bus driver grabbed Foto's older child, a daughter, put her on the bus, and drove her to safety.

Deputies caught Schenk walking down the street still holding the shotgun, Stephens said.

Schenk, whose parents live in the neighborhhod, has a history of mental illness, Stephens said. Neighbors said he disappeared from the area for a while and had just recently returned

 

[TheeBadOne]

I'm tired of saying it but; What the hell is wrong with people! :banghead:
I hope the 3 year old gets good immediate care.

 

[JShirley]

Shame.

Kinda makes me think, again, that some folks are just too damaged to salvage. Or, as someone else here has said, Rehabilitation through reicarnation. Whatever works.

John

 

[hso]

This is why the antis get recruits.

 

[Leatherneck]

Man, I've done that in my subdivision--yelled at speeders to slow down .


'Course I'm generally armed around my curtelage...

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[Glockster35]

I'm tired of heard that this guy and that guy had a history of mental illness. it get's old after a while. Maybe we should make them register like sex offenders.

Why can't the states just lock these maniacs away for good. It's ironic, but over here in Germany, I haven't seen one mental person walking the streets. Walk down any street in America and they are all over!

It bothers me that his children had to see him die, and the bad guy will probably walk away from the incident unscathed.

 

[Edward429451]

The guy hadda be on drugs or a mental case. Normal people just do not respond like that.

I got yelled at before for speeding in a neighbrohood. I didn't get mad or hostile. I felt embarrassed, humbled, guilty and apologetic. Jeesh.

What the Fudge. String that guy up.

 

[Black92LX]

people today just have no disredgard for anyone around them. i am tired of it.

 

[P12]

yelled at a passing motorist to slow down

I did that yesterday and thought there was going to be a fight for a few seconds.

My kids are grown but I've got several neighbors that have little ones. In my old neighborhood I was seen once standing in the street with a big brick. That Caddy started driving by a lot slower.

 

[OF]

You've got to be pretty insane to shoot someone for telling you to slow down, then go walking down the street with the shotgun.

I think this is just a case of a psycho being a psycho. I don't see how it could have been prevented...unless he has a history of violence that could have been used as a reason to lock him up. We just can't lock up everyone who's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.

- Gabe

 

[4v50 Gary]

Mental illness can be cured with rope. Now poor Bryson will grow up w/out his dad.

 

[Quartus]

Why can't the states just lock these maniacs away for good.

Because back in the early '80s the libs got the laws changed so that it became VERY difficult to lock somebody up for mental illness. And some reform WAS needed, because it was way TOO easy before that. THat's a fearsome power and it was being abused.

But the current situation is unacceptable. I like Gary's cure for those who have violent tendencies.

 

[TheeBadOne]

Those law changes freed many people who would have been institutionalized for life......only to have them dumped on the street. Many bag ladies and vagrants are a result of this. Part of it I understand. Modern medicine has done wonders with drug treatment for the mentally ill. People who would have spent their life either insane or mentally imballanced now can take a drug regimen and function normally out in the real world. The problem is that when they leave the structured environment of the medical facility they often go off their medication. There is nobody there making sure they are taking their meds. The very nature of many of these mental illnesses have an aversion to taking meds. Sad yes, tragic, yes. Avoidable, perhaps, if we go back to the institution route.

 

[Alan Smithiee]

well, all I can say is I hope no one here ever develops a "mental illness", then we should all be screaming for a rope.

alzhimers, Senile Dementia. both "Mental Illnesses"

ever see a Diabetic get all screwed up because of blood sugars? does that mean how many of us here shouldn't be allowed to carry?

for all we know from an anti gun newspaper was that someone went off with a shotgun, for all we know medicare or his insurance company cut off the meds he needed to stay stable and working, but nope, we should just lock em up and to hell with the cost. what the heck? just get a rope, ain't no one important......

sometimes some of you sicken me...

 

[Iain]

Nanaimo

Was about to post that as I went down this thread - a bit of depression is classified as a mental illness. As an illness it is one of the most common in the Western world.

I ain't going to take part in the lynching of my mother, and 9 or ten other people close to me who suffer from it.

 

[snubby]

Remember that psychiatrists like to report the "statistic" that 20% of the population will experience a major depressive illness at some time in their life. Also remember that this "history of mental illness" may disqualify one from being able to purchase a firearm later. Added to prior felony (of whatever type), prior misdemeanor domestic violence, restraining orders, and all the other disqualifying conditions, the 2nd Amendment might one day be rendered a moot point for the majority of Americans.

 

[Quartus]

Nanaimo, the term is way too broad for us to be arguing about it. It should be clear when we are talking about using a rope we are talking about people whose mental state makes them violent. We are NOT talking about hanging people just because some addle-brained counselor hung a label of "mental illness" on them. That would include some people close to me, too.

however, I have no problem at ALL with executing insane people who have committed murder. It bothers me not at all that "they didn't know what they were doing!!!" I am satisfied that they will not repeat their crime. That's good enough for me.

So the very difficult question is, what do you do with those who are NOT clearly violent, but MIGHT be? How do we go about PREVENTING those murders by locking people up beforehand? How do we decide who remains free and who gets the key thrown away? It's a very difficult question.

As snubby has pointed out, that's very dangerous territory for liberty.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Each person is responsible for their own action. That they fail to take their medication or fail to follow their "program" should not be a defense against homicide. It's one thing to get depressed or even to try to hurt oneself and quite another to take a person's life because of it. Here we have a person with a mental illness who had absolutely no justification to shoot. Yet he did and with tragic consequences. Society is injured in more ways than one. Loss of a contributing member. Loss of a nuturing father and spouse. Loss of a son, brother, cousin, nephew.

Perhaps the rope won't cure the illness but it certainly prevents recurrences such as what transpired.

 

[number6]

I can see it now - The libs holding a candle light vigil in memory of the turd that shot the father. The blame will certainly be placed upon the father ( by the libs ), their thinking being he "insulted and offended" the speeder, causing him to flashback to his childhood when his father tried to teach him the proper way to throw a baseball. Hence, is early childhood abuse!

 

[Standing Wolf]

Schenk, whose parents live in the neighborhhod, has a history of mental illness...

Whoever turned him loose deserves to be held accountable. If I do sloppy work, my clients hold me accountable.

 

[JShirley]

Nanaimo Barr,

I was depressed for about 20 years. Seriously. Never even came close to hurting somebody just because they told me to do the right thing.

I think the point was, that those who hurt folks for no reason are sick, sick, sick. It's one thing to have some problems coping, and it's another to take out your frustrations violently on society.

John

 

[Alan Smithiee]

"Mental illness can be cured with rope. "

"I'm tired of heard that this guy and that guy had a history of mental illness. it get's old after a while. Maybe we should make them register like sex offenders."

"What the Fudge. String that guy up."

"Why can't the states just lock these maniacs away for good."

ok hotshots. whats his mental state? come on, what is his "Mental Illness"? anyone prepared to state for the record that it was or WASN'T due to improper prescribing of medications? for all we know from this indepth report he could have been haveing a psychotic reaction to Nutrasweet (well documented but not overly common effect). maybe someone slipped him something in his coffee. maybe he had an allergic reaction to his proscribed medication. (again, well documented but not overly common, but it happens)

come on, you all seem to have an answer, give me a diagnosis, come on? we have one line in a newspaper. thats enough to call for stringing someone up?

if it was a interaction, it could have happend to anyone.

and if he was just a total psycho loony with a long history of violent behavour, who put him back on the street? I feel for his kids, but lets not talk about stringing up everyone who gets a bit depressed when they loose a loved one. and pray to who ever you look up to that YOU never experience any of the many many health problems (Diabieties, Brain tumours and Brain INjuries, various viri, strokes) that can cause "mental illness" .

I find it laughable that this crowed will take the word of Reporter at face value. so anxious to just sting someone up...

American, home of "String him up now and worry about why later"

sorry, thats not MY America

 

[Quartus]

anyone prepared to state for the record that it was or WASN'T due to improper prescribing of medications?

Nanaimo, all of those scenarios are plausible. And I don't care. It doesn't matter to me if it's the Twinkie defense or the Nutrasweet defense. He committed murder. It wasn't an accident. He should hang.


Get a track record of doing that and I think we'll see a lot less of "I coudn't help myself!"

Even if that doesn't happen, I GUARANTEE there will be no repeat offenders.


Can't say that for the current system.

 

[Carnitas]

Some shrink ought to be paying for this with is liscense and about 20 years of his life.

Fear of punishment might not work for crazies and criminals but I'm thinking it might work medical "professionals".

 

[Edward429451]

My apologies if I offended you or anyone but pulling a SG and starting to gun people down b/c they yelled at you to slow down, sounds a bit more than simple depression...

I'm no doctor and I cant get real technical about depression so forgive me if'n I'm talkin over my head, but I'll go on record to say that if any of you all ever see me freakin out killing people cause I ate at McD's or put the wrong sugar in my coffee, please take me out quick. It'd be a small price to pay to save innocent life.

No diagnosis is necessary for a man with a gun in his hand actively shooting innocents.

I re read it and we did sound harsh, sorry. I also realize that it is probably not as cut & dried as some made it sound. This is the voice of people who are tired of getting the short end of the stick.

Our friends, family, and children are being killed regularly. Lots of criminals are using mental illness defenses and getting off. We might be able to muster sympathy for the (really) sick ones, if there wasn't dead bodies in their wake. No offense intended.