Guns don't kill 12 y/o Trick or treaters....People do....

[akflightmedic]

Little damper for those celebrating Samhain...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081101/ap_on_...r_treat_killing

SUMTER, S.C. – A 12-year-old boy trick-or-treating with his family in central South Carolina was shot from inside a home Friday and killed, and his father and brother were wounded by the gunfire, authorities said.

A suspect was in custody and police called the shooting an isolated incident.

The family was headed home from a city-sponsored event downtown when they decided to stop at a few homes, Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said. The father and his four children approached a home with a porch light on about 8:30 p.m. EDT while their mother waited nearby in a vehicle.

As the family was at the door, they thought they heard fireworks. The 12-year-old boy, his father and brother were all hit by the gunfire. The boy died at a hospital, Coroner Verna Moore said. The other two children were not hurt.

The boy's father and brother were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Patterson has not released the man's name or the identities of the family.

She also would not release any more details about the shooting.

"The investigation is continuing in to what has been a very tragic evening," Patterson said. "Our sorrow and sympathy goes out to this family."

The police said there were other people inside the home at the time of the shooting, but she didn't expect any of them to be charged.

A neighbor said he heard a loud noise about the time of the shooting and thought it was simply Halloween mischief.

"I thought, trick-or-treat night — pranks go down. Anything goes," said Lenwood Dixon, 49, who works at a hazardous waste and recycling company. "I heard a noise like maybe gunfire, then my daughter saw a bunch of lights flashing and saw some cops."

In his six years in the neighborhood, he said he wasn't aware of any violent crimes. He said a few trick-or-treaters had been on his block that night.

"I'm surprised. Since I was here, I'd never heard of anything like that happening. It's a quiet neighborhood," he said. "You don't see many children in the neighborhood. It's more elderly."

[JPINFV]

Central South, South Central? Same difference.

[Michael]

[web:719fcc5926]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori[/web:719fcc5926]

[firedoc5]

What a tragedy. Seems like there is always some sort of isolated incident every year.

[Richard B the EMT]

In mentioning the Yoshihiro Hattori shooting, it got posted before I could but that happens on this site.

I am unaware if it is factual, or now urban legend, but supposedly, all Japanese exchange students are now being taught, especially if they go to the United States, on hearing the word "Freeze" shouted at them, to stop, and raise their hands in surrender, for their safety.

[Doczilla]

Pure idiocy. Why would you shoot someone through your front door? This is piss poor target identification. You don't shoot someone you can't see.

There is a level of paranoia here that I don't fully grasp. I wonder if the suspect has a drug enterprise that they were trying to protect. The Hattori shooting makes no sense either. Why would you exit a secure location to chase down someone on your property with a gun for ringing your doorbell and enter into an armed confrontation when they are clearly leaving? That jackass should have gotten jail time.

'zilla

[Defiant1]

I saw the same type of thing on The Happening, pretty sad though that a 12 year old had to die because of the stupidity of one person, my question is was there alcohol involved in this incident?

[Richard B the EMT]

As paranoia runs rampant, I can only trust the two of us, and I have my doubts about you!

(Wish I knew who to attribute that to, or what I paraphrased from)

[Michael]

paraphrased from

[Richard B the EMT]

OK, I have heard the phrase as coming from "regular people", hard line radicals, hard line traditionalists, even members of the John Birch Society. This is a first:Quakers?