Authorities: 14-year-old shoots 3 relatives, killing 2 with his birthday rifle

[RamboLiberal]

14-year-old South Carolina boy used the rifle his father bought him as a birthday present to shoot the man to death, along with a great-aunt, and critically wound his grandmother, police said Tuesday.

The teenager, who was not identified because he is a juvenile, called police just before midnight Monday and reported that he had shot his aunt, his grandmother and his father, said Tony Fisher, director of the Spartanburg, South Carolina, Public Safety Department.

The boy told the dispatcher his father was dead, and said "in a calm, controlled, methodical voice that he would be waiting or come outside when police arrived, and he had laid the gun on the dining room table," Fisher told reporters Tuesday. As officers arrived, the teen came out with his hands up and was arrested, he said.

Police entered the house to find Joe Robert Lankford, the boy's 44-year-old father, shot to death in his bed, Fisher said. They found Virginia Gaston, 83, dead in her bed, apparently from a gunshot wound, he said. Gaston is believed to be the boy's great-aunt, Fisher said.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/18/south.carolina.family.shot/index.html?hpt=T2

[hlthe2b]

1. Damn....

I've run out of things to say in these all too common instances. So, just... DAMN.

[TheWraith]

6. They're not really common, actually. In fact they're pretty rare.

You just hear about them more often thanks to the media. It's like child kidnappings--the way the media hypes it, you'd never know that the non-family kidnapping rate in America is about 100 to 150 per year for the entire country.

[Glassunion]

9. But we only hear about the missing rich white girls for weeks on end.

Meanwhile we do not hear about the 3 black girls that went missing in the same 3 week period.

Just sayin'

The media has created more pandemics in my lifetime than there really have been in all of American history.

[TheWraith]

18. Indeed, well said.

Not by conspiracy, but by virtue of the old principle that "if it bleeds, it leads" the media provides a funhouse mirror version of reality. And by the less well known but equally important principle that people don't want to hear about the poor, undesirable, or unattractive, unless they can look down on them.

So you hear about the attractive teenage girls who disappear, and the kid who shoots his family. But not the 20 or so people, mostly impoverished black men under 24, who were killed that same day in gang warfare, thanks to our "war on drugs."

[lawodevolution]

38. "Meanwhile we do not hear about the 3 black girls that went missing "

exactly, the best way to make yourself into a true idiot is to watch or read regular news sources.

[hlthe2b]

15. I did not say they were common, but rather TOO common...

Can you argue with that? There is a difference. One a year would be TOO common and we have typically had more than that.

[TheWraith]

20. "Too common" is a rhetorical trap.

One could honestly say that once a century is "too common," but the fact remains that things happen. Drunk driving is "too common," but it's something that's unavoidable when there exists cars and booze. There's no such thing as total safety in the world. In these sorts of cases, we can't abandon the logic that tells us whether there's something we can do about it or not.

[hlthe2b]

23. Dont' be ridiculous. I realize you read quickly & misinterpreted

But, your response is ridiculous. Your posts are almost always unnecessarily argumentative for no apparent reason. Count me out.

[TheWraith]

24. How is my response ridiculous?

I'm pointing out a fact of reality. You can say any bad thing is "too common," but that doesn't mean that it's realistic to make it LESS common.

[lawodevolution]

39. he wrote very good responses to the sensationalism you were writing, try getting your news and views

from a source other than the media and brady campaign.

[thereismore]

42. You are just digging a bigger hole for yourself. Let other people use English the way they want to.

[Towlie]

36. "An isolated incident" you say? Hey, isn't that you in the latest Tom Tomorrow?

[lawodevolution]

40. Right wing and Left wingers get death threats all the time.

Being in politics brings with it a risk.

[maxsolomon]

2. 1 week later: another Amoklauf shooting, right on schedule

maybe they're coming at the same rate as they always did, but we just know about every instance now.

but it sure seems that every week (on average) someone (usually male) in america goes crazy with a firearm.

[X_Digger]

26. Same as the dead animals..

Media hype.

Reminds me of the 'summer of the shark'.

[maxsolomon]

33. Any link to stats? i don't know of a source that compiles Amoklauf shootings

so we can see the trends in rage killings. i don't know if there are more killings by the mentally stressed/ill now than 40 years ago.

and don't send me to see the decline in "overall firearm deaths", please.

[X_Digger]

34. Nothing official, no.

But if you sort each of these different categories by date, and look at only the US ones, then compare to the US population at that time.. seems to be pretty consistent*.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_murderers_and_spree_killers_by_number_of_victims

ie, there were horrible amok killings in the 20's like the Bath Township School murders in 1927, Tony deCapua in 1928, Leung Ying in 1928.. 44's Howard Unruh, 46's William Smith, 55's UA 628 flight, 58's Our Lady of the Angels arson, 66's UTA killings, 62's UA flight 11, 64's PAL Flight 773, 73's NOLA spree killer, 74's Olean high massacre, 75's easter sunday massacre, 84's san ysidro mcdonalds, 86's 'postal' spree (the origin of the term).. ugh, tired of flipping back and forth.

*Looking at the curve, there does seem to be some disparity between the mid baby boomers and the 70's, if you compare to population. Not sure what's up with that- possibly the post-war economic boom? It's like a dip, then came back up. Look at the 90's and 00's though, and it's back to a fairly steady rate. (Yes there are more, but if the population doubled, you'd expect more.)

Not all these involve guns, though- some are bombs, some are arson, some are cars

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. More stupidity on parade.

It'll never end.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. The UNREC trolls are out in force on this one - already down by two

I'll bring it back up to four and urge any who feel about this subject as I do to recommend this thread to keep it visible.

[TheWraith]

5. I wonder what the hell they had to have done to this kid.

Normal, undamaged kids don't murder their relatives and then turn themselves in.

[DCKit]

7. Some are born damaged. nt

[oldtime dfl_er]

8. Not sure what you mean

by that, but if he was "born damaged" should they be giving him a gun for a birthday present?

[TheWraith]

11. That's a cop-out of an answer.

Even if it's true once in a great while, it's an absolute cop-out to just say "Oh, so and so was evil." It's like saying "the Devil made them do it." Or "Oh, Loughner was just a nut, with no possible influences." It's the sort of reasoning preferred by the people who do the damage, because it lets them off the hook. How is it natural that a 14 year old simply wants to murder his entire family for no reason? People forget that the way sociopaths are made is usually through abuse.

[DCKit]

12. That's not what I said. At all.

But since you have the inside dirt, tell us all about it.

[TheWraith]

22. Then please explain why "Some are born damaged." nt

[DCKit]

25. Are you unfamiliar with the concept of birth defects?

There are all kinds. For example, the brains of self-styled "conservatives" have recently been reported to have an over-developed emotional center. Liberals, not so much.

Nature vs. Nurture may be a factor, but a biological component is often present.

[TEXASYANKEE]

43. Agreed.

My first thought upon reading this story is that this kid was a victim of physical or mental abuse. Having read some of the work of Dr Lonnie Athens, this kid's violent act seems to be typical for someone who has endured a lifetime of abuse. I will not be surprised to hear that his father was physically abusive and his grandmother was emotionally/physically abusive.

[shadowrider]

10. I'd be curious to know if this kid had a juvenile record and if so, what for

Who knows. Maybe he went off because someone denied him permission to go to the mall, or somethin.

[Atypical Liberal]

13. Hmmm

"Although the boy has talked with authorities, "he was not able ... to articulate a reason for his behavior," Fisher said."

Something doesn't add up here.

The firearm was purchased for the youth back in September. And now, 4 months later, he kills a significant portion of his family with it, and the boy is unable to "articulate a reason for his behavior".

Either he was entirely off his rocker, in which case you have to wonder about who would provide a firearm to him, or something else is going on here.

Particularly confusing is:

"Police previously had responded to "insignificant incidents in and around the house," Fisher said, but "nothing directly associated with or related to that family in particular.""

Was someone else living in the house? Or did the police respond to it before this family lived in it? This is a confusing statement.

[shadowrider]

14. I find it un-nerving when articles detailing instances of death and destruction

Are so heavily recommended.

[rhett o rick]

16. I agree. Let's play it down as much as possible. nm

[lawodevolution]

41. it's because when there is a gun related killing all the anti-gun folk pull themselves out of their

depression for a second to enjoy a tragedy i mean exploit a tragedy to push their agenda.

[udbcrzy2]

17. Makes me wonder what police think when they get these calls

It makes me wonder what is going through the officers head when he receives a call like this? It's time for my break. I'll bet they hate it. What could a 14-year-old be thinking to do this, didn't like his birthday present or ??? Something set him off on his rampage.

[Kolesar]

19. A rifle for a fourteen year old?

And there was a bad outcome??

I always hated that shit kids in my neighborhood would get a BB gun and use it to kill wild birds.

[SteveM]

27. I had arms (and used them) well before 14. So, what is your point?

[Kolesar]

28. brusque and combative

yeah, you're just the kind of guy I want with a gun on our block :sarcasm:

[SteveM]

32. Correction: there was nothing brusque and combative...

about my post. Are you such a wilting flower that you would be upset by asking for the point of your question?

Your sarcasm tag does no inoculate you from your over-reaction, of course, so please don't conjur up confrontation.

[Atypical Liberal]

29. bb guns

My dad got me my first rifle, a Ruger 10/22, when I was about 10 years old. But he would never buy me a BB gun. Why? "BB guns are not good for anything but getting into trouble," he used to say. And he was right. As a kids, I used the neighbor kids' bb guns to no end of mischief. We shot birds. We shot each other. It's a wonder we didn't put our eyes out.

But I would never even contemplate doing that sort of thing with a real firearm. Kids will shoot out the neighbor's window or street light with a bb gun, but would never contemplate doing that with a real firearm, as it would attract far too much attention.

[Kolesar]

31. I walked down to the Boy Scout rifle range and shot "expert" level in about 15 targets

When I was 13. I was gifted. I was on the rifle team in college, but haven't shot targets since I was 20.

[hack89]

35. Got my first rifle at 13. nt

[shadowrider]

21. And now we'll hear from his friends and remaining family they just KNEW

he was nuts.

Conjecture on my part, but I don't doubt it.

[Atypical Liberal]

30. That doesn't quite add up though.

If they knew he was nuts, why would they buy him a firearm?

[shadowrider]

37. It was conjecture on my part with no proof.

Maybe he was ok when they got it for him, 4 months ago or so, then something happened.

Who knows.

I'll wait for more info before definitively offering an opinion.