Woman shoots boy, 13, in house
07/21/2003
By ANDREW NELSON / The Dallas Morning News
Kylie Smith said she would usually expect to grab her shotgun when faced
with someone unknown in her house. Saturday night, for reasons she can't
explain, she reached for the smallest-caliber gun she owns, a 9mm
pistol, when her security alarm sounded.
Ms. Smith, a 28-year-old mother of two, shot a 13-year-old boy who was
in her house Saturday night. The boy was in fair condition Sunday at
Baylor University Medical Center.
The boy and his family could not be reached for comment Sunday. A person
at the boy's house declined to comment.
Police said no arrests had been made Sunday.
Ms. Smith and her children were staying with her ill grandmother
Saturday evening when her alarm company called just before 11 p.m. to
notify her that her alarm had gone off. She hurried home, calling the
police twice on her cellphone. She was on the phone with a police
dispatcher at the time of the incident.
After she pulled into the driveway of her house in the 1600 block of
Poplar Avenue, the alarm was making a racket, so she went inside and
shut it off. She said she then opened her gun safe, pulled out the
handgun and began checking the house to see what was missing.
She noticed that the window air-conditioning unit on one side of her
house was missing. .
As she checked her home, she approached her bathroom. To her left she
saw the closet door begin to open and a figure begin to move out of the
closet, she said.
"I aimed for the throat and I pulled the trigger," Ms. Smith said.
She said she screamed at him, telling him not to get up, turned on the
lights, and realized that she had shot a young neighbor.
Ms. Smith said she had no idea how old he was, did not know whether he
had a weapon and feared for her life when she shot him.
"I hate that he's 13, but the thing is, if I had to do it all over
again, there would be no hesitation," she said.
Two signs in the front yard of Ms. Smith's house and numerous stickers
on the windows indicate that there is a security alarm. "There's over 12
postings outside of my house," she said.
She said she feels that she did what she had to do.
"Sadly said, this is what has to take place for him to learn a lesson,"
Ms. Smith said.
07/21/2003
By ANDREW NELSON / The Dallas Morning News
Kylie Smith said she would usually expect to grab her shotgun when faced
with someone unknown in her house. Saturday night, for reasons she can't
explain, she reached for the smallest-caliber gun she owns, a 9mm
pistol, when her security alarm sounded.
Ms. Smith, a 28-year-old mother of two, shot a 13-year-old boy who was
in her house Saturday night. The boy was in fair condition Sunday at
Baylor University Medical Center.
The boy and his family could not be reached for comment Sunday. A person
at the boy's house declined to comment.
Police said no arrests had been made Sunday.
Ms. Smith and her children were staying with her ill grandmother
Saturday evening when her alarm company called just before 11 p.m. to
notify her that her alarm had gone off. She hurried home, calling the
police twice on her cellphone. She was on the phone with a police
dispatcher at the time of the incident.
After she pulled into the driveway of her house in the 1600 block of
Poplar Avenue, the alarm was making a racket, so she went inside and
shut it off. She said she then opened her gun safe, pulled out the
handgun and began checking the house to see what was missing.
She noticed that the window air-conditioning unit on one side of her
house was missing. .
As she checked her home, she approached her bathroom. To her left she
saw the closet door begin to open and a figure begin to move out of the
closet, she said.
"I aimed for the throat and I pulled the trigger," Ms. Smith said.
She said she screamed at him, telling him not to get up, turned on the
lights, and realized that she had shot a young neighbor.
Ms. Smith said she had no idea how old he was, did not know whether he
had a weapon and feared for her life when she shot him.
"I hate that he's 13, but the thing is, if I had to do it all over
again, there would be no hesitation," she said.
Two signs in the front yard of Ms. Smith's house and numerous stickers
on the windows indicate that there is a security alarm. "There's over 12
postings outside of my house," she said.
She said she feels that she did what she had to do.
"Sadly said, this is what has to take place for him to learn a lesson,"
Ms. Smith said.