KIDS In Tx Went On A Doorbell Prank Spree – But One Homeowner Grabbed HIs Gun

Since this happened in Tex-A$$ I’m not surprised the shooter remains free, at least for now. Hell, AG Paxton and Gov. Abbott have probably already talked about when to pardon the homeowner – before he has to spend money on lawyers or after he’s tried, assuming he’s convicted. But the cold, deadly fact is that an 11 year old kid out on a Sat. night pulling an annoying but harmless prank is dead.

This is not just tragic but appalling for more than one reason. In this short article from The Independent the facts of the case they report are all you need to know. An eleven year old kid and his friends were out on a Saturday night pulling a prank called ‘ding dong ditch’ – ringing doorbells and running away. People, mostly kids have been pulling this stunt since before there were doorbells. Granted, especially late at night it’s annoying as hell. My own reaction when it’s happened to me is to shout some colorful language (I can make my voice boom and carry when I want to) and go back to whatever. We live in a different country and culture now.  Here is how things unfolded Sat. night:

• A group of young kids (who yes, at their age should have been at home) were roaming a neighborhood, ringing doorbells and running away. Probably snickering if not laughing amongst themselves. Any shouts from pissed off homeowners likely encouraged them to keep at it instead of making them stop.
• At one home, the aforementioned 11 year old took his turn to ring the doorbell. And that’s where things got stupid and then tragic.
• The homeowner, realizing he’d been pranked grabbed a gun and ran down the street after the kids. And got to within view of them.
• He opened fire, shooting one kid in the back multiple times. The kid (as yet unidentified) would later die at the hospital.
• Police questioned the homeowner, then released him!

Yes, you read that last part right. The murderer didn’t shoot from inside his home but ran after the kids. If charged he might actually be convicted. Of the least serious charge Texas law will allow I’m sure.  But a kid is dead. Over a dumbass prank and from where I sit this was no case of home defense. It was just an angry homeowner that by god decided it was his “right” to carry out a summary EXECTUTION.

The Police did obtain a search warrant and took several rifles and handguns as evidence. They are said to be in discussions with prosecutors  on possible charges and well, at least one cop thinks this homeowner should be charged:

Sergeant Michael Cass, a homicide detective with the Houston Police Department, told the CBS News affiliate that the suspect would “more than likely” face a murder charge.

Cass said the boy’s death did not appear to involve self-defense because the shooting “wasn’t close to the house.”

If the homeowner who also hasn’t been identified (why the hell not?) has a lawyer I’m sure that lawyer is already trying to formulate language that won’t get laughed out of court saying anything within a  half mile of the home is “close.”  The fact the dead kid was shot IN THE BACK will be more problematic. Or would be in most states. We’re talking about Tex-ASS so all bets are off. Still, it seems from the linked article others in the neighborhood are upset over this, and think the gun totin murderer was way out of line, even if one mentioned kids shouldn’t go playing pranks.  Well hell, adults have been saying that since forever.  But given our country is awash in guns and gun owners no where near responsible enough to possess them if I had kids or grandkids I’d be putting the fear of god into them over what can happen.  For all that, one person summed up how appallingly tragic this is:

Neighbors were shocked after the seemingly innocent prank ended in tragedy.

“What harm could they have done? Playing with a doorbell? That’s the part that really kind of hurts the heart,” one resident told the news station. “For someone to shoot him in the back, they knew they were a kid. What’s the purpose of it?”

It makes me wonder if this gun-goober murdering asshole is viewed as someone to steer clear of in that neighborhood.  I’ll bet the same thought occurred to you.  The thing is, gun violence and overzealous gun owners have become so common this story wasn’t a leading topic over the weekend on the heels of the mass shooting of KIDS praying in a church up in Minnesota.  More attention has been paid to an asshole for stealing a hat from a kid at the U.S. Open tennis championship.

The guy, a millionaire and business owner who’s a tennis buff tried to get a player who’d won his match and came over to sign autographs for fans reached across his body to snatch the hat the player had given to a freaking kid. The kid looked well under ten years old and obviously got upset. The a-hole quickly stuffed the hat into the tote bag his wife had and STILL tried to get the player’s attention to sign something.  Internet sleuths quickly got on the case and outed the guy who offered a  half-assed apology. The player found out what had happened and met with the kid for photos and give him some bling. So all ended well.

HOWEVER the point is that THIS was the subject of multiple news storied over the weekend. An eleven year old kid pulling an old harmless prank with his friends being chased down and shot to death (shot in the back I remind you) wasn’t something I learned about until a few hours ago. WTF?

Meanwhile Republicans are continuing to push weakening still more gun laws!  What will it take to stop this madness?  Few politicians and leaders have the guts to even talk about modest solutions, much less the one that’s needed which is to restore meaningful gun control in this country.  IF we regain control of Congress and the White House too I’m far from certain much will be done.  We’ll have to wait and see.

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