Teens lucky BB gun victim didn't shoot back.

[LaVere]

Teens lucky BB gun victim didn't shoot back
BURTON Michigan (Flint)
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Thursday, October 04, 2007
By Bryn Mickle

BURTON - Two Flint teens got more than they bargained for when they shot at a Burton attorney with a BB gun Tuesday night.

They get a trip to jail, but the attorney said they could have been killed.

Michael J. Breczinski, 54, had just finished a coney dog at the Courtland Center mall and was walking back to his car when he heard a loud pop and felt a stinging pain in his neck.


He whirled around in the parking lot to find two teens, 14 and 15, on a bench smirking at him, their arms folded up to hide their hands.

When Breczinski asked if they had just shot him with a BB gun, he said, the teens ran.

Despite having a BB lodged in his neck, the longtime rugby player, who goes by the moniker "Dr. Death," gave chase.

One of the teens whirled around and pulled up his shirt to reveal a black and silver gun, then opened fire again as Breczinski advanced.

As more pellets pinged him in the arms and torso, the attorney tackled the teen in the parking lot but couldn't hold on.

The teens ran across Court Street as Breczinski called 911, and they were arrested by police a short time later in a nearby restaurant.

Although the teens apparently had ditched the guns, Breczinski said they were carrying CO2 cartridges used in BB guns along with $30 in suspected stolen candy.

Police later found a pair of BB guns in a wooded area across from the mall.

While Breczinski survived the episode with a few pellet wounds and a tetanus shot, he said it could have been a lot worse for the teens.

Although he is licensed to carry a concealed weapon and had taken target practice earlier in the evening, Breczinski said he had opted against taking his .45-caliber Ruger to the mall with him that night.

When the teen pulled out the BB gun, Breczinski said there is no guarantee he would have known it wasn't a real gun.

"I think God was looking out for them and me," he said.

Breczinski hopes the teen learned a valuable lesson about "playing junior thug."

"It's a good way to get killed," he said.

The teens were taken to the Genesee Valley Regional Detention Center and are expected to face felonious assault charges.



http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-46/1191507707290290.xml&coll=5

 

[armoredman]

Idiots.

 

[springmom]

Darwin award nominees in the making, there.

Springmom

 

[Barr]

Thugs are thugs no matter what age they are. Any person that purposefully points any kind of gun without sufficient provocation, BB or otherwise, at another human being has crossed a line and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Obviously, I am talking about this situation and not soldiers, people defending their friends and family from attack, etc.

 

[Gord]

Good lord. And all of this for no reason whatsoever.

It's probably too much to wish that these kids get their butts kicked up and down the street by their parents.

 

[Stretchman]

Anything that fires a projectile and is used on a person is a firearm. even if all it was was a BB gun, when he lifted his shirt and displayed it, he brandished it.

At the very least, they should be tried as adults, and charged with at least 2 felonies.

 

[waterhouse]

Kids were clearly idiots. Hopefully they learn something from this incident, but I'm not holding my breath.

I hope I'm in good enough shape in 25 years to chase down teenagers.

Anything that fires a projectile and is used on a person is a firearm.

Careful what you wish for. I don't mind collecting $6 every time someone orders a gun online, but I would hate to have to start doing it for airguns.

 

[highfive]

Two idiots, that's all they are..

 

[Correia]

When Breczinski asked if they had just shot him with a BB gun, he said, the teens ran. Despite having a BB lodged in his neck, the longtime rugby player, who goes by the moniker "Dr. Death," gave chase.

That line there is comedy gold.

We had a teenager get shot with a pellet gun in my neighborhood a few weeks ago. Totally random driveby, from some punks that were shooting out street lights. However in this case the pellet actually passed into his chest and entered his lung.

He's fine now, and was actually out of the hospital in a day, but it just illustrates that pellet guns can be lethal.

Stupid teenagers.

 

[S&W620]

Wow, some of you guys are awfully harsh.

Stretchman, you can't be serious. You honestly want to try a 14 year old kid as an adult and charge him with 2 felonies for shooting someone with a BB gun? That's a bit much don't you think?

Community service, fines, a weekend or two in a juvenile detention center, etc. should be enough of a punishment for a 14 year old KID.

 

[damien]

I hope they are happy with their felony.

 

[scbair]

S&W620,

Respectfully, NO! Actual, honest-to-cellmate-named-Bubba jailtime is appropriate to a teenager who maliciously injures a fellow human being.

Community service and some public embarrassment would be appropriate for spray-painting a smiley face on the front door of the police department.

 

[frank23185]

"That's a bit much don't you think?"

No.

 

[chris in va]

Community service, fines, a weekend or two in a juvenile detention center, etc. should be enough of a punishment for a 14 year old KID.

Well, put yourself in the victim's shoes. If you were being shot at by a pellet pistol...several times...I suspect you'd feel a little differently about the situation. What if a pellet managed to find one of your eyes?

 

[Stretchman]

What happens when they grow up? Think they get better, become kinder, gentler citizens? Odds are, probably not. Recidivistic? Probably. And next time, the kid'll learn from hs mistake. A better gun, better shot placement, possibly deadly consequences. Another ha-ha, funny funny joke.

Throw the book at him now, and make him pay. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with him later, when he's robbing banks or 7-11s and killing his victims.

 

[Gord]

Wow, some of you guys are awfully harsh.

So's assaulting some poor guy for no reason at all.

Stretchman, you can't be serious. You honestly want to try a 14 year old kid as an adult and charge him with 2 felonies for shooting someone with a BB gun? That's a bit much don't you think?

This is what's wrong with the world today: nobody wants to step up and hold people responsible for their actions because they're "too young" or "don't know any better" or some circumstance of their childhood undoubtedly left them traumatized.

A BB gun is not a toy. This guy could easily have been blinded or had a few teeth knocked out had he turned around as they fired at his neck, or had the punk gotten a "lucky hit" with the pistol. Would you say "with a BB gun" so nonchalantly if this guy were now minus an eyeball?

Community service, fines, a weekend or two in a juvenile detention center, etc. should be enough of a punishment for a 14 year old KID.

14-year-old kids shoot and kill cops (and each other) with real guns all the time. Explain to me why age should matter one whit.

These kids are complete idiots, and they need to be punished sufficiently that they will realize the gravity of what they did, both in actuality and on principle. I wonder how long until they graduate from candy to cash and from BB guns to real guns.

 

[lloydkristmas]

You think that would be "a little harsh"? Kids these days have no idea what kind of trouble this sort of thing will bring them until theyve already done something stupid and its far too late. I dont think their punishment is "too harsh" at all. As a matter of fact, I almost wish Dr. Death would have lived up to his name and shot the two pieces of crap right then and there. It tickles me on the inside to see those grieving parents trying to shift the blame by saying things like "he was such a sweet boy blah blah blah" while realizing that they are in fact terrible parents and their kid died because of it. Anyway, hi guys first post.

 

[ZeSpectre]

One of the teens whirled around and pulled up his shirt to reveal a black and silver gun

Can you say DEATH WISH?

S&W620, Wow, some of you guys are awfully harsh.

Maybe, but someone's parents were apparently too soft. Good Lord I'd have NEVER CONSIDERED pulling a stunt like that as a youth. Maybe I'm showing my age but if I'd done something like that it's really likely that the victim would have kicked my backside and THEN had me arrested and then (probably) my dad would have done another tapdance on my skull. (assuming I wasn't just shot and killed outright).

 

[S&W620]

chris in va, If I got shot by a 14 year old kid with a BB gun and walked away with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises, no I would not want to see the kid sit in a jail cell next to a 35 year old rapist or murderer. They are kids for Christ's sake.

As far as the "what if" situation, who cares about the "what if"? What if the guys broke the kids neck and killed him when he tackled him? There are "what if's" in every circumstance but in the end it didn't happen that way.

 

[v35]

Stretchman, you can't be serious.

I can't speak for Stretchman but I'm in complete agreement. These 14 year old hitmen-in-training ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Their behavior demonstrated they are not entitled to enjoy the benefits of a free society; hence they should be removed from it.

 

[Gord]

chris in va, If I got shot by a 14 year old kid with a BB gun and walked away with nothing more than a few cuts and bruises, no I would not want to see the kid sit in a jail cell next to a 35 year old rapist or murderer.

How about if they ran up and beat you a couple times with a baseball bat or a tire iron? Is that still okay because you only sustained a few cuts and bruises? It's not like they attacked you with a "real" weapon like a knife.

15 years old is not a "kid" - it's a young man. A ten-year-old is a kid, who may not fully appreciate what he's done. A fifteen-year-old knows better, sorry.

BTW, $30 is a hell of a lot of stolen candy - they obviously aren't too concerned about keeping a low profile either when stealing or when attacking people in public in broad daylight. Being that brash about their illegal activities now, I can only imagine what they'll be like when they're older.

 

[shouldifail]

I shop at this mall on occasion, and live not too terribly far from there....In my opinion, both the victim AND the kids were very lucky.
Whats to say that these kids wouldn't have used a "real" pistol if they had been able to get their hands on one???
Not to mention the ramifications if the victim would have been carrying...

I hope the kids get what they deserve...and more importantly learn from it.

 

[lloydkristmas]

So what if they are 14? 14 year olds contribute nothing to society. Especially ones that shoot pedestrians with BB guns. Most kids these days are blinded by video games and TV and have a jacked up sense of reality. America is so "PC" these days, we're afraid to throw some kid in prison just because he is a kid. Some one else said it already, there are kids even younger than this in ghettos who are being bred to hate cops, and use guns on anybody and everybody who "disrespects" them. Human lives like this are a waste of space, and should be dealt with accordingly.

S&W, would you hesitate to shoot if a little innocent 14 year old gangbanger pulled a gun on you and demanded your wallet? With this logic, you would. I know I'm not the only one who wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

 

[S&W620]

Tactical Ninja, stating opinion as fact doesn't make it so.

A 15 year old is a kid, plain and simple. This is not only the view of the majority of the population, but also the law as well.

I just hope you don't have the same ideas of what constitutes a "young lady" as you do a "young man" when you head out on a Saturday night.

As far as the "what if" scenario, see my previous post.

 

[Gord]

Tactical Ninja, stating opinion as fact doesn't make it so.

A 15 year old is a kid, plain and simple. This is not only the view of the majority of the population, but also the law as well.

There is a difference between "minor" under the law, and "kid" as a semantic. A 15-year-old is a minor but I doubt many would agree that he still qualifies as a "kid" whose actions should be excused by "he didn't know any better" - as you've already seen.

Unless you can produce statistics, whether or not the majority of the population consider a 15-year-old a "kid" is also an opinion and open to speculation.

As far as the "what if" scenario, see my previous post.

By your "what if" logic, you wouldn't press charges if you were fired upon by someone with a Glock, but were not hit. Is this so, or is what you are saying perhaps a bit illogical?

Thanks for the pedophile jab, by the way. That's the way to win any debate.