12-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead While Hunting Died ‘The Way He Would Want To’

[proud2BlibKansan]

Tragedy struck two different North Carolina families on Friday morning, as a man shot his nephew dead in a hunting accident, and another gunned down his brother in a case of mistaken identity.

A 12-year-old boy named James Lee Parker was shot and killed Friday morning in a hunting accident near Durham, North Carolina, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison told WCTI 12 News. He was hunting with his father, uncle and step-brother.

The reporter interviewed the deceased boy’s great uncle, David Holloman, who was not present at the time of the accident. Holloman related that the accident occurred in the Falls Lake Recreation area, where the family hunting group had just killed a deer when another appeared. The uncle, Jason Matthews Harper, was trying to reload his 12-gauge shotgun when it accidentally discharged, fatally wounding his 12-year-old nephew in the chest.

The great uncle told the TV news:

[James] loved to hunt and he died that way. I believe that’s the way he would want to go if he was going to go. I guess God had plans for him and he’s up in heaven now.

This is not meant to attack the great uncle, who is no doubt grieving his family’s loss — but, still, there seems to be little comfort in thinking that a pre-teen wanted to die via a bullet wound to his chest.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/12/29/12-year-old-boy-shot-dead-while-hunting-died-the-way-he-would-want-to/

[TwilightGardener]

1. Good Christ. Yeah, I'm sure a 12 year old kid imagines himself dying

at the ripe old age of 12 with a gaping hole blown out of his chest.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Unbelievable, isn't it?

You also have to wonder if this gun didn't have a safety. If it did, why not put it on before you load it?

[jmowreader]

54. Some guns can't be loaded with the mechanical safety on

There are two huge rules of gun safety: always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction when you are not firing, and when firing never point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy. THAT safety wasn't working either; why in hell would anyone load a weapon with the muzzle pointing at another person?

[Rex]

4. Yeah that is some weird justification shit going on.

That said, RIP young man.

[FarPoint]

19. Oh for Chrissake

They actually said that didn't they...As if he was a soldier lost in Afghanistan!

Denial and rationalization....no responsibility.

[Rex]

45. Ya...nobody wants to die in the forest

like that. Not on a battle field in some far away land nor in some pine forest in America. NOBODY.

I feel so sorry for the kid.

[FarPoint]

47. I just had a passing thought...

At 12 yr. old...he was trying to measure up to his parental role models...who knows if he really wanted to hunt verses belonging and being accepted.

Sad.........so very sad.

[Rex]

48. I started dove hunting at his age with my grandfather

and uncles. That could have been ME.

And I thank my lucky stars nothing like that happened.

NO CHILD WANTS TO DIE AT 12.

Pisses me off!!!

[Initech]

32. Yeah that is beyond fucked up isn't it?

[Enrique]

3. rationalization

let's just be thankful they didn't say it was God's will.

[Care Acutely]

11. He did say it was Gawds will.

Read again.

[RC]

21. Well, so much for Gawd's will. That boy was gonna grow up to be...

We'll never know.

[Enrique]

25. d'oh!

spoke too soon

[ToxMarz]

34. Reading is Fun-damental!

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. "I guess God had plans for him and he’s up in heaven now. "

Sounds like he believes it was God's will.

[surrealAmerican]

15. "I guess God had plans for him and he’s up in heaven now."

... so yes, he basically did say it was "god's will".

The great-uncle is just spouting the same old nonsense that permeates our culture. We work so hard to keep people from feeling bad about tragedies that some folks wind up basing their world view on vapid platitudes.

[Eleanors38]

5. Are hunting death rates trending up or down?

[Taverner]

6. This tells me something totally different: there are too many people hunting

The parks are filled up with too many hunters - when that happens, other hunters shoot each other

[exboyfil]

39. The uncle shot him while reloading

Nothing about the concentration of individuals hunting, just incredible stupidity.

[Taverner]

42. Missed that - -

However every hunter I've talked to has always complained there were too many out there,,,

[ManiacJoe]

7. Violate one of the Four Safety rules

and you will scare folks. Violate two or more and someone will probably be killed.

[Coyote_Tan]

22. That's the beauty of the rules...

It is physically impossible to accudentally kill someone accidentally if they are followed.

All guns are always loaded.

Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.

Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

[pnwmom]

35. And the reality of the rules

is that ALL human beings make mistakes. And when a mistake is made with a loaded gun, people can get accidentally killed.

[Bigmack]

57. I sure hope the kindergarten...

.. teachers can remember all that when a couple of monsters come into their school/classroom.

Especially that last one.

Our Gunny taught us "Friendly fire.... ain't!"

[Chorophyll]

8. One argument I hear over and over from the pro-gun side is that they want to be able

to hunt. And I don't think anyone (much) wants to deny them that right. But people keep proving over and over again that they're just incapable of not fucking up.

"God had plans for him." Yeah, God probably did. Took the uncle's gun to mess that up.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Yeah because every twelve year old wants to die from a sucking chest wound gurgling blood....

... crying for his mother.

[Paulie]

63. :-(

man.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. And I suppose the family can be comforted by the

thought that god had "plans" for him. Does that make the uncle and his gun instruments of god?
That mindset just baffles me.

[Politicalboi]

12. He can

Hunt for god.

[Fumesucker]

13. Every other safety rule aside

The shotgun should never have been pointed at a human being, period.

RIP James Lee Parker

[ileus]

16. If I were gonna die while out in the field, I hope its a massive MI

Sad news....family hunting trips of my youth are some of the biggest events I remember as a kid.


T&P's for the family dealing with a hunting accident like this.

[Fumesucker]

20. The most common hunting deaths I'm personally familiar with are falling out of a tree stand

I can think of two people in my extended circle of acquaintances that have fallen out of tree stands and eventually died from pneumonia after becoming quadriplegic.

I can't think of anyone that has died from shooting accident while hunting though.

[ileus]

30. A good friend of mine is an orthopod...

He says ATVs and Treestands keep him in business.

http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-frederick-morgan-ym4jx

[Turbineguy]

17. Well, at least he wasn't shot dead by some stranger.

After all, who wouldn't want to be shot dead by a relative?

It's terrible.

[djean111]

18. I used to live in Bahama, just north of Durham.

Neighborhood of houses set back in the woods, off a gravel road, 2+ acre lots, couldn't see homes from the road.
My next door neighbor told me I should probably skip sitting out on the deck in the back during hunting season.
Because even though everything around was posted, I could still get killed by a high-powered-rifle-totin' hunter, and all hunting deaths are pretty much deemed accidental. Evidently I would have been fair game.

Now I live in Florida, and I just need to stay out of bars. And movies. And anywhere else someone might be carrying a gun and get pissed off or feel "threatened".

[dembotoz]

23. i always thought that sleeping while spending the night in the arms of a certain woman i know would

be an ok way to go

much better than having my chest blown up.

just me


would think a lot of 12 year olds would agree although i am much much older

[nruthie]

24. Good grief.

I'm fairly sure that God had nothing to do with this poor kid getting shot. To say that it's God's will absolves the shooter of any blame it seems. The kid died because of a stupid accident. Period.

[Thats my opinion]

49. In the face of tragedy, people soften say terrible things.

As a pastor, I have heard them. I remember someone saying txo a mother of a child who had just died, "I guess God needed him more than we did."

[sakabatou]

26. Wanted to die in a hunting accident?

WTF?!

[dballance]

27. Why Exactly Was a Shotgun Pointed at Another Person?

Okay, so it was accidentally fired. I can understand that. But why on earth was the barrel of a gun pointed anywhere near another person?

As I have posted many times here on DU I grew up on a farm with shotguns and rifles. My dad would chastise us mightily if we ever let the barrel of a gun point at another person. It was really basic gun safety he taught us. And he also taught us to never assume the gun was not loaded. So all those idiot accidents where people shoot themselves or others because they didn't think the gun was loaded or there was a round in the chamber should not happen.

Thank goodness I had such an intelligent father who taught me such respect and proper handling of deadly weapons.

[ileus]

33. people do stupid assed stuff when excited.

hunting is no different...

I imagine in the hast to get the shotgun back into action before the animal "got away" the uncle ended up with tunnel vision. Or the youth could have stepped in the line of fire last moment. More details are needed that's for sure.

[dballance]

37. Sorry, Don't Buy It

I've hunted with shotguns and rifles. Accompanied by my brother and father. One is perfectly capable of NOT pulling the trigger. If you're in such close quarters that it might be possible that someone could step in front of you at the last moment then you are not hunting safely.

NEVER when I was hunting was it more important to get the shotgun back in action to kill an animal before it "got away" than it was more important to make sure you didn't shoot your hunting companions. Of course I'm not Scalia so perhaps I have a higher threshold for safety.

It's not like we had to kill the animals or starve.

[still_one]

28. what a piece of work, with a family like that no wonder this tragedy happened

[Ian David]

29. "Praise Jesus he wasn't eaten by the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon," said his nerdy nephew n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

31. Maybe we could cut the guy some slack.

His nephew just got killed and he's trying to make sense of it.

[Fumesucker]

38. Not quite, he just killed his nephew through ignoring the single most basic rule of gun safety

I had a rifle pointed at me a few weeks ago by a hunter, it was only briefly and entirely thoughtless but I have no idea the state of the weapon and it gave me the major heebie jeebies.

Then I read about something like this and it makes me realize how it happens, people aren't paying attention to where the gun is pointed.

[KittyWampus]

41. the quote is from the great-uncle, not the uncle who shot his nephew dead.

[Lint Head]

36. He DID go and his young life was blown away because someone was in a hurry to kill an animal.

Let's see. I've heard hunting teaches the young values. Wonder what this young child learned?

[Zoeisright]

40. God, talk about denial and rationalization.

That's just sick.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

43. Gun owners in the U.S. have a sick mentality. nt

[leftyohiolib]

44. stupid is as stupid says

[rgood]

46. 12 gauge?

Seriously? Who uses a 12 gauge shotgun to hunt deer?

[oldhippie]

66. Only the deer hunters in 10 states .....

Probably a couple hundred thousand.

Ten states mandate “shotgun only” during the firearm season. These states are inclusive of Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachuetts, Delaware, Maine, and Rhode Island. Three states impose “shotgun only” restrictions on firearm hunters in designated areas. These include Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia. Roughly, 25% of all states impose “shotgun only” restrictions. This minority has produced the majority of all BTR entries.

http://www.imbmonsterbucks.com/info.php?id=60

Google is your friend ...

[TexasBushwhacker]

50. The uncle had not taken the required hunting education course

and acquired his hunting license improperly. Hopefully the authorities will bring charges and won't just write this off as a tragic accident.

[MjolnirTime]

51. the Uncle can't accept that he killed his nephew, so it must have been God's plan, right?

[BeyondGeography]

52. 12-year-old boys are wired for immortality

Death is the farthest thing from their minds.

[d_r]

53. " if he was going to go"

Good Lord people he isn't saying the boy wanted to die, he said "IF HE HAD TO GO"

[Tikki]

59. I wonder if the little guy knew he was going out that day with a complete doofus of an uncle..

Maybe the little guy didn't have a choice...maybe he 'had to go'.



Tikki

[tularetom]

55. Hunting deer with a 12ga shotgun??

Poor kid must have caught a slug in the chest.

[malaise]

56. They take kids away from their parents for a lot less serious

situations where kids are deemed to be in danger.

[brewens]

58. The shotgun goes off while the uncle is reloading? Ignorance of basic gun safety there.

There is no way the shotgun should have been pointed at the kid. Even at 12, I would have moved away from in front of the barrel and told anyone not to point that at me. You can't blame the kid but we all used to be taught that where I'm from. Of course the NRA isn't concerned about pushing gun safety like they used to.

[alarimer]

60. At 12 years old?

That uncle is an idiot.

Someone needs to be held responsible for his death. It's not an accident; it is negligence at the very least on the part of the shooter. Manslaughter charges need to be filed on the uncle whose gun went off.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

61. "...Jason Parker hadn't taken a hunting education course that's supposed to be mandatory...

to get a hunting license. Wildlife officers planned to discuss the case with prosecutors before deciding whether to press charges."

UPDATE: Officials To Discuss With Prosecutors Whether To Press Charges In Hunting Death
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Tarboro-12-Year-Old-Killed-In-Hunting-Accident-185058431.html

Ah, yes, "responsible" gun owners.

Rest in peace, sweet little James Lee.

[Raine]

62. "Live by the sword, die by the sword", geesh no one wants to die at 12

no matter what the method!

[mythology]

64. Personally I wouldn't want to die because somebody else was an idiot

I have never owned a gun, but even I know that you never point a gun at somebody you aren't intending to kill.

[unblock]

65. the WAY he would want to, i suppose i can't argue with. but the WHEN he would want to....

hunting accident after having lived another, say 60 years or so, perhaps.

[Historic NY]

67. Really with a big hole in his chest......

another nit wit with a gun, that thinks he knows all about it.