Teen shoots cops with WWII "sniper" rifle...

[fletcher]

The kid is off his rocker. He knew in advance he was going to court for a hearing, and nothing was to be accomplished by shooting two officers.

 

[Headless]

Kid went crazy. Pot had nothing to do with it. I know many people who smoke pot (sometimes around here the question is more like 'who doesn't') and own firearms, none of them have ever shot any cops and none of them would even consider it. Prince Yamato, I really do agree with your assessment of the situation - I did not always understand just how badly parents can **** a child up until i got closely involved with a woman who had an absolutely horrifying childhood. She's nuts and it ain't her fault; she's been emotionally conditioned by abuse for her entire life by a family that knows no other way to function.

This is a real tragedy, and i would also add to the other posts saying this boils down to the 'war on drugs' being complete nonsense. I'm sure it'll be an unpopular opinion to some, but I've been more intoxicated off of coffee than i ever felt off of any 'illegal drugs' (which i've never tried, of course...) but you don't see the DEA kicking in my door for posession of coffee beans. I've seen people drink 1 glass of wine and be so hammered they were practically unconscious, i've seen people drink 5 or 6 shots and 18-20 beers and appear outwardly sober. I saw a guy drink 3 pitchers of heineken then pass a field sobriety test administered by a sherrif once. I've seen a guy smoke 1 toke of crappy low potency marijuana and be semi concious mumbling "pizza" for 3 hours and known other people to smoke a blunt with 6 grams of hydroponic weed and then go offroad mountain biking for 3 hours. Stereotypes are nonsense; everything effects everyone differently and the responsibility lies with the user of the substance to use it responsibly or avoid it entirely if it effects them in ways that are dangerous or irresponsible.

 

[Pitt762x54r]

When I started my student teaching I wondered "Why are these kids the way they are?"

the usual response was "Just wait, you will see"

After the parent-teacher conference it was all clear as a bell


I feel bad for everyone involved, nothing good can come from this situation.

 

[Fulcrum of Evil]

> If we had only stayed out of World War II, there would have been no need to design such an evil weapon known as a fully loaded semi-auto sniper rifle who's sole purpose is made to kill!

Deer rifle

 

[Kentak]

When I started my student teaching I wondered "Why are these kids the way they are?"
the usual response was "Just wait, you will see"
After the parent-teacher conference it was all clear as a bell

Yep, me, too. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

 

[Mumwaldee]

Seriously - do some research before typing. Lazy and unmotivated potheads may be, but violent they are not. I have MUCH more experience with them than you do.

Maybe you can explain that to the officer's families then expert.

 

[schloe]

Don't be an idiot. Marijuana doesn't make you violent, period. Blaming the weed in this situation is no different than blaming the gun.

My prayers go out to the victims' families.

 

[Mumwaldee]

Don't be an idiot. Marijuana doesn't make you violent, period. Blaming the weed in this situation is no different than blaming the gun.

I don't smoke dope so I wouldn't know. Do you? I'd say that makes you the idiot. I wasn't blaming anything other than the punk kid. If the kid has access to drugs and firearms then I'd say there is a lack of decent parenting going on, but the bulk of the blame lays on the individual.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

Don't be an idiot. Marijuana doesn't make you violent, period. Blaming the weed in this situation is no different than blaming the gun.

My prayers go out to the victims' families.

I would say ignorant would be a better word than idiot. If he has never smoked pot, then he doesn't know and is ignorant on the subject...Idiot is a bit harsh.

 

[Mumwaldee]

Yeah, I'm ignorant because I don't need something to dull my senses so I can make it through the day. I don't need a crutch to deal with reality, but you call it whatever you like.

 

[Bazooka Joe71]

I think you missed my point, I wasn't criticizing you. But this is a gun site not a drug site so lets just drop it.

 

[Mumwaldee]

I understand you're trying to keep it "high road", but he's a big boy I'm sure he can take care of himself and doesn't need someone cleaning up behind him.

 

[Headless]

Maybe he just doesn't want this thread closed because of off topic bickering between folks who don't know when enough is enough. Attack the argument, not the arguer, folks.

 

[Grey54956]

Hey, let's try to "keep it highroad"... I'm sure he's a big boy, but so are you. Drop it.

The kid went off his rocker, but so far there isn't any indication that he was on drugs at the time. Who knows why the little weasel went off the deep end. That's the real question.

Sad though that he used a "WWII sniper rifle". Apparently all M1 Garands are now sniper rifles. Strange, I thought that they were just the basic U.S. infantry rifle of the era. How long before people start using Winchester Model 94 sniper rifles?

 

[striker3]

No vest without at least level III trauma plates would have stopped those .30-06 rounds...

At that distance, could a vest WITH level III plates have stopped those rounds?

I know this sounds blasphemous, but the dad should have kept the gun locked up. In CA the dad would be in big trouble for leaving a gun where a minor could get to it. I'm not a fan of allowing young people to have unsupervised access to firearms. Regardless of how trained they are, younger people GENERALLY do not have the maturity of adults. I know many people here know kids that are much more mature than some adults, but IN GENERAL, adults are more mature.

Out of all the teenagers that have access to guns, how many of them commit crimes with them? I grew up in a rural area along the Arizona-Mexico border. Once I became old enough, I was expected to keep a loaded weapon in my room "just in case." Alot of my friends were the same way. We didn't go out and misuse those firearms. It all comes down to personal responsibility, just like everything else. It is, and should always remain, up to the parents to decide if their own children are responsible or not. It is not something the government should have any say in.

 

[Oohrah]

Sad but true S..t happens! Should have, could have, didn't.
Preventable? Probably, but NOT!!! More times than not teens
get into locked things to do bad deeds, most do not. Drugs
are causitive? Most likely the full moon has greater influence.
People kill people for whatever reason. Mental health issues
are not much of a crime until something happens. Nut cases
have rights ya know. Do you suppose it would do well, to go back
to making the individual responsible instead of beating BS on locked,
keeping criminals away from using the bad guns, or the drugs did
it. Once you get over that there are no reasons to the whys and
for whatever, put it onto the responsibile party. Tradgety, of course.
What if it had been a car and alcohal was the drug of choice. Still
sad. Bottom line is we are back to blaming the firearm and sounding
like this could have been prevented by locking up, not using hard
core weed, and parents that don't care. Exactly the fodder the gun
control people use to stir rage and new laws that don't work for squat
To find fault on the deed without any more fact then the occurance
doesn't make sence and gives not one clue on prevention of a simular
act occuring:banghead:

 

[Hardtarget]

Some are wishing that Dad had kept the ammo oor gun locked up. I'm not so sure.

Dad did the right things. Took his son shooting. Had personal time with him doing a good "together" activity.

If, (big if), there had been a break in/ home invasion, and the kid couldn't defend his Mom, we would be lamenting..."if he had just been able to get one of his Dad's rifles...."

You do the best you can. Bring up your kids to know you love them. To know right from wrong. To understand that to face responsibility for actions.is part of growing up. Do your best...and you still might have to live with these kind of life altering problems.

I have always felt lucky and blessed that wifey and I managed to get both our sons to adults. (still worry about stuff)

 

[Wes Janson]

I can't really see how the officers could have handled the situation differently..it's always hard to say for sure without the exact details of the situation, but from the sounds of it both were caught by surprise and significantly outgunned. Their mistake may have been in turning away from the house, but we have no idea how long the kid was watching them for, or whether they could have noticed him before he opened fire (lighting conditions, position, etc). No commonly worn body armor that I'm aware of would have withstood what was most likely M2 ball at close range. In the end it seems like they just got really unlucky that day.

 

[JackW]

Try him as an adult.

That's gonna be pretty difficult to do now.

"The teen, Tyler Dumstorf, had shot the deputies Monday evening and was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot ...."

Did you even read the story?