14-year-old shot after reportedly breaking into home

[Hum]

MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. -- A teenager was transported to a local hospital after the Spokane County Sheriff?s Office says he broke into a Medical Lake home.

It happened just before 5 a.m. in the 600 block of N Grant Avenue near Percival Street.

Police received a call from a woman who said someone was breaking into her home and that her husband was holding the suspect in the backyard. Minutes later she reported that the suspect was shot.

Police say the homeowner woke to noises in a back room of his home. He reportedly grabbed his pistol and went to investigate the disturbance. He allegedly found two people in his home and shot one of them.

That suspect, 14, was transported to a downtown hospital where he underwent surgery. There is no word yet on his condition.

The second person, another 14-year-old, was reportedly seen jumping the couple?s back fence and running down an alley. He was later identified and contacted at his home by police.

The sheriff?s department is not sure what the suspects? intentions were when they broke into the home.

The sheriff?s department says that the two suspects had baseball bats at the time the husband confronted them.

They allegedly broke into an enclosed room beneath the couple?s back deck. The husband told police that the room was broken into several days prior, but he did not report that break-in. He did add an alarm to his home after that attempt, which alerted him to Monday?s break-in.

Deputies seized the .45-caliber pistol used in the shooting.

source

[Southern Patriot]

What's with the microscopic font?

[webeagle12]

What's with the microscopic font?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

"Person breaks in to a house in the US, gets shot."

Sounds like just another day. That said, the person was 14 and there is no mention of any danger to the life of the homeowner, so he probably shouldn't have shot one of them.

Honestly though, with all these stories about gun-owners in the U.S. shooting trespassers, I'm amazed that anyone would try this, especially 14 year old kids.

[jerzdawg]

Regular font -

MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. -- A teenager was transported to a local hospital after the Spokane County Sheriff?s Office says he broke into a Medical Lake home.

It happened just before 5 a.m. in the 600 block of N Grant Avenue near Percival Street.

Police received a call from a woman who said someone was breaking into her home and that her husband was holding the suspect in the backyard. Minutes later she reported that the suspect was shot.

Police say the homeowner woke to noises in a back room of his home. He reportedly grabbed his pistol and went to investigate the disturbance. He allegedly found two people in his home and shot one of them.

That suspect, 14, was transported to a downtown hospital where he underwent surgery. There is no word yet on his condition.

The second person, another 14-year-old, was reportedly seen jumping the couple?s back fence and running down an alley. He was later identified and contacted at his home by police.

The sheriff?s department is not sure what the suspects? intentions were when they broke into the home.

The sheriff?s department says that the two suspects had baseball bats at the time the husband confronted them. They allegedly broke into an enclosed room beneath the couple?s back deck. The husband told police that the room was broken into several days prior, but he did not report that break-in. He did add an alarm to his home after that attempt, which alerted him to Monday?s break-in.

Deputies seized the .45-caliber pistol used in the shooting.

"Person breaks in to a house in the US, gets shot."

Sounds like just another day. That said, the person was 14 and there is no mention of any danger to the life of the homeowner, so he probably shouldn't have shot one of them.

Honestly though, with all these stories about gun-owners in the U.S. shooting trespassers, I'm amazed that anyone would try this, especially 14 year old kids.

did you miss the part that said the kids had baseball bats? that could be some sort of danger and if the house was dark there is no way the homeowner knew they were just kids. Sux that it happened but any low life that is going to break into a house should be prepared to accept any fate that awaits them.

[DClark]

"Person breaks in to a house in the US, gets shot."

Sounds like just another day. That said, the person was 14 and there is no mention of any danger to the life of the homeowner, so he probably shouldn't have shot one of them.

Honestly though, with all these stories about gun-owners in the U.S. shooting trespassers, I'm amazed that anyone would try this, especially 14 year old kids.

Statistically speaking, it is a rare occurrence to get shot from trespassing. So as long as the marginal benefits (the reward) outweighs the marginal costs (the low chance of getting caught and even lower chance of getting shot), breaking and entering is economically wise for some people.

[Hum]

I doubt it was light enuff to tell just what age the kids were.

And they could have been just as armed & dangerous as any adult.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

did you miss the part that said the kids had baseball bats?

No, despite Hum's abnormally small font I read that bit, and while I agree that in a dark environment a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else, I can think of various things that could have avoided the incident. As an example (and I think the man should have done this by law) there should have been a warning shot fired. That said, I've had this discussion on these forums many a time, and not being an American I'm unsure as to individual state laws.

[Charisma Veteran]

"Person breaks in to a house in the US, gets shot."

Sounds like just another day. That said, the person was 14 and there is no mention of any danger to the life of the homeowner, so he probably shouldn't have shot one of them.

Honestly though, with all these stories about gun-owners in the U.S. shooting trespassers, I'm amazed that anyone would try this, especially 14 year old kids.

Exactly. Kid couldn't have been that bright anyway... He'd probably grow up to do something equally stupid and life-threatening, like eat cocaine that had been up someone's arse :laugh:

No, despite Hum's abnormally small font I read that bit, and while I agree that in a dark environment a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else, I can think of various things that could have avoided the incident. As an example (and I think the man should have done this by law) there should have been a warning shot fired. That said, I've had this discussion on these forums many a time, and not being an American I'm unsure as to individual state laws.

Except that if the intruder had a gun, a warning shot would be all the provocation they needed to get a real shot in themselves first.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

If he didn't break into that house he would not have been shot. He is NOT the victim here, the homeowner is.

[Nerd Rage]

If it were my house and I had 2 intruders with weapons, there would have been 2 shot 14 year olds in this story.

[Dot Matrix]

SUE SUE SUE!!!!

[nowimnothing]

They were in his home, they had a weapon, in my opinion he had every right to shoot them. I don't know if Washington State has castle laws (doubt it - tends to be a southern thing), but hopefully they're lenient on him.

Quite frankly, the only thing that them being 14 tells me is that perhaps there's someone else that deserves to be shot. Like the kids parents.

[riot]

If it were my house and I had 2 intruders with weapons, there would have been 2 shot 14 year olds in this story.

+1

[DocM]

+2

SUE SUE SUE!!!!

Most all states have Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground laws - or both, and these typically immunize homeowners & street victims from civil liability in such cases. If they break in your home or attack you on the street and you're in fear, it's open season. See someone else being assaulted or raped? Bingo - defending third parties is covered in most all states.

As to their age; there are people assaulted, raped and killed by kids under 16 every day here, so it's what they're doing not how old/young they are. The youngest murderer in Michigan was 11, and he was tried in adult court after juvie authorities waived jurisdiction

[AbandonedTrolley]

If it were my house and I had 2 intruders with weapons, there would have been 2 shot 14 year olds in this story.

This

[jerzdawg]

No, despite Hum's abnormally small font I read that bit, and while I agree that in a dark environment a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else, I can think of various things that could have avoided the incident. As an example (and I think the man should have done this by law) there should have been a warning shot fired. That said, I've had this discussion on these forums many a time, and not being an American I'm unsure as to individual state laws.

not sure what you mean by a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else. A baseball bat can be considered a weapon, one whack to the head could be enough to knock a person out. As stated already, there may not have been enough time for a warning shot. If I have to choose between the safety of me and my family over some jerkoff who decided to enter my house then there is a HUGE problem. As far as I am concerned there is no state/federal law that would stop me from protecting my family. Society is filled with all sorts of nutjobs that want to steal stuff for drugs, cash or even their next meal. Without knowing the mindset of a criminal there isnt time to firing a warning shot or whatever other things that "could have avoided the incident". The only thing that could have avoided the incident was the two kids deciding not to break into a house.

[Dot Matrix]

Most all states have Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground laws - or both, and these typically immunize homeowners & street victims from civil liability in such cases. If they break in your home or attack you on the street and you're in fear, it's open season. See someone else being assaulted or raped? Bingo - defending third parties is covered.

As to their age; there are people assaulted, raped and killed by kids under 16 every day here, so it's what they're doing not how old/young they are. The youngest murderer in Michigan was 11, and he was tried in adult court after juvie authorities waived jurisdiction

Betchya Mommy will come to their defense. "They weren't doing anything wrong, the homeowner needs charged and jailed!" :ermm:

[DocM]

When I took my concealed weapons license training course my teacher was the Police Commissioner. His advice was simple and twofold;

1) warning shots miss by definition, and therefore could exit the house (or area) and hit an innocent party downrange - even a mile or more distant (see the Amish girl thread)

2) shoot to kill, not wound. People (and cops) have been killed by wounded perps.

[Hum]

Maybe a sign outside like this would have helped:

[HSoft]

No, despite Hum's abnormally small font I read that bit, and while I agree that in a dark environment a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else, I can think of various things that could have avoided the incident.

I totally agree, like not breaking into someone elses house.

[IceBreakerG]

When I took my concealed weapons license training course my teacher was the Police Commissioner. His advice was simple and twofold;

1) warning shots miss by definition, and therefore could exit the house (or area) and hit an innocent party downrange - even a mile or more distant (see the Amish girl thread)

2) shoot to kill, not wound. People (and cops) have been killed by wounded perps.

When I took my HCP class, we were taught the same thing, except for #2, it was shoot to "neutralize the threat" since he couldn't really say shoot to kill (then again, if the attacker is dead, I'd say the threat is neutralized lol). Granted, that's exactly what he implied, but since he was a police officer, he couldn't say that lol. Not only can you be wounded/killed by a wounded attacker, it'd be your word vs theirs. Dead men tell no tales. Then again, here in TN, we have the Castle Doctrine now, but I pray I never need that law to save me. I want to use my weapons for taking out paper targets, squirrels and zombies.

[DocM]

I agree on preferring game & paper for targets, but having been put in the position before I'm prepared for a rerun if it comes.

Apparently my instructor was a bit more blunt than yours, but then he was a retired Marine so....

[Soulsiphon]

Finally (and sadly enough) some local news on Neowin. Here in Washington state, as blue as we might be - there are a couple teens today that should thank God they weren't killed.

My nephew - former Iraq vet and armed to the teeth (for better or worse) had his home invaded 2 weeks ago, about 1 o'clock in the morning. The guy he tussled with inside the house was ~ 300 lbs, and ****-drunk. I'm surprised that he didn't kill the guy that broke in tbh. I wouldn't have asked what he was doing there until my clip was empty.

I don't give a **** how old you are, once you've made the commitment to invade someone else's home, you've made a pretty heavy decision concerning the direction of your life and should expect that you might be killed. Smart(er) criminals do safer stuff like bank robberies or car-jacking.

[Southern Patriot]

Yes, at the time that I posted that message, the font on the original post was at about 4 point size, maybe smaller, and was basically unreadable. Stop acting like a dumbass.

No, despite Hum's abnormally small font I read that bit, and while I agree that in a dark environment a baseball bat could be mistaken for something else, I can think of various things that could have avoided the incident. As an example (and I think the man should have done this by law) there should have been a warning shot fired. That said, I've had this discussion on these forums many a time, and not being an American I'm unsure as to individual state laws.

Please stop talking about things that you clearly have no clue about, OK? Warning shots are generally illegal in most cases. You either shoot at the invader or you don't shoot at all.