Boy fatally shot trick-or-treating - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#1676998
SUMTER, South Carolina (AP) -- 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.

The shooting suspect, Quentin Patrick, was in custody, a jail official said. Patrick, 22, has been charged with murder and three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. The jail official said she didn't know whether Patrick had an attorney and his telephone number was unpublished.

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. Authorities have not released the identity of the family.

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

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

The police chief 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."

Source


Perhaps the solution to this is to arm kids trick-or-treating? Oh wait.. they will just end up shooting themselves in the head.
By Decky
#1677159
Trick or treating should be suppresed brutaly. It's the most stupid idea I've ever heard of.

For the rest of the year children are given mesages don't take treats from strangers, don't go to peoples houses if you don't know them ect. Then for one day a year they are told go for it it's fine. People who let their kids trick or treat should have them confiscated.
Last edited by Decky on 02 Nov 2008 03:20, edited 1 time in total.
By BrokenSword
#1677276
Woah, Decky, watch where you're jerking that knee! You're going to hurt somebody!

I think trick-or-treating is great; I'd like to see more things like it. So often anymore, people are so scared and suspicious, nobody even knows their own neighbors. I wish my kids could have it more like it was when I was growing up; I knew every kid on the block. When somebody new moved in, everybody would wander over to see who they were. So on, so forth, yada yada yada. </flashback>
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By Dan
#1677278
Obviously more proof we need to ban Halloween, as if we didn't know that already.
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By Nets
#1677280
People who let their kids trick or treat should have them confiscated.


Most parents trick or treat with their kids, or they let them go with other parents in the community they know. This is an important distinction from what you said.
By BrokenSword
#1677288
Didn't help in this case.

The 12-year-old boy, his father and brother were all hit by the gunfire.


Why does a psychopath shooting at people who knock on his door mean we should ban halloween?

Perhaps we should make it illegal to knock on people's doors?
By missy
#1677322
My thoughts exactly, BrokenSword.

This guy obviously does not belong in society.
By stalker
#1677555
He has some unconventional notions of what the "trick" part of trick and treating encompasses.
By missy
#1677747
I wonder what 'treats' Bubbah will be giving him in prison
By tristopp
#1677969
He was just angry that his girlfriend had consumed all of their malamars, and had none left for him to eat.
By SpiderMonkey
#1678098
Land of the free, home of the brave indeed :lol:

I love how Americans try to put forth a tough-guy image which basically revolves around shooting unexpected visitors through the door because they might hurt you.
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By Donna
#1678436
Ban a holiday that has been around for centuries.. lol. Reactionary.
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By Dan
#1678473
What's sad is I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

:lol:

It was sarcasm.
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By dilpill
#1678486
SUMTER, South Carolina (AP) -- 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.

I was literally 70 miles away from Sumter when this happened. It's actually not that surprising; you would expect some crazy guy to shoot a random kid in South Carolina.
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By Infidelis
#1678499
Why is this evidence to take away firearms? We know nothing about this guy's criminal history or psychological background...he had to have fallen through some type of crack in our over-exerted criminal justice system or our apathetic health system. You don't just wake up and decide to shoot a trick or treater.

Doh, wait...read further:

Patrick had multiple drug convictions but police do not believe he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the shooting. Authorities did not know if Patrick or Pee had attorneys. Both are being held without bond.

A man who identified himself as Patrick's brother but declined to give his name said in a call to The Associated Press that he believed Patrick was suffering from post-traumatic stress after a break-in last December. The man's account matched the information police provided.


It's bothersome when people are unable to think abstractly. "A gun was involved? BAN THEM!"
User avatar
By Verv
#1678556
Guns are a tool used to kill people...

If this guy intended to kill human beings, he could have also used a knife. His kill count could have actually been higher -- consider a grown man running through a door and stabbing out at everyoen who is there, at close range slicing children and dads.

If you think you can solve the issues of violence by banning violent tools you are naive and do not take very deep look into things.
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By Donna
#1678580
Verv wrote:If you think you can solve the issues of violence by banning violent tools you are naive and do not take very deep look into things.


I'm not really proposing a ban on fire arms. That ship has sailed long ago.

I'm more or less lamenting the perversity of American gun culture.
By BrokenSword
#1678582
Just to throw on my $0.02 on gun control, since we've wandered in to it...

Verv, the difference between the gun-wielding psycho and the knife-wielding psycho is that unarmed dad a least stands a chance against the second guy. Three unarmed dads stand a very good change against him.

Gun control doesn't stop violence, but it does limit the scope. I don't advocate a complete ban on guns, but I don't see why private citizens need more firepower than a 6-shot revolver or a hunting rifle. Of course, that wouldn't have helped this poor kid.

Man, I thought we were going to keep this thread on the hot-button halloween issue!

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