AK-47 shooter..How should this kid be prosecuted?

[brien]

Please read these story links and let me know your thoughts on how this perpetrator should be dealt with under the law.


http://www.courant.com/news/local/hcu-brkgun-0514,0,1003675.story


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct--shootingarrest0514may14,0,2350294.story

[PatrickHenry]

I am wondering if he even needs prosecution...

Maybe residential treatment at a mental health facility.

The father, the owner of the gun, however...may need to be investigated with an eye towards prosecution, depending if he violated any gun laws...

I am pleased that no one was hurt too bad.

How the hell do you "wrestle" an AK away from someone?

[brien]

I am wondering if he even needs prosecution...

Maybe residential treatment at a mental health facility.

The father, the owner of the gun, however...may need to be investigated with an eye towards prosecution, depending if he violated any gun laws...

I am pleased that no one was hurt too bad.

How the hell do you "wrestle" an AK away from someone?

I will ask my son because he is the one, who along with his two other friends, managed to do it. The AK 47 discharged at least twice during the scuffle, one bullet passing with in inches of my kid's ear.

[PatrickHenry]

Damn! Talk about "dodging a bullet!"

Congratulations on not being at the hospital or down at the morgue, brien.

[brien]

Damn! Talk about "dodging a bullet!"

Congratulations on not being at the hospital or down at the morgue, brien.

Thanks PH What the papers aren't reporting is that my daughter was standing there about 10 feet from the shooter as well. I could have lost both my kids last night.... A close call indeed....My son and his two buddies probably have headed off an even greater tragedy because this kid's father said he was "agitated' because they told him to screw off. So the kid went back home to get the gun, dressed up in a black jumpsuit, and donned a strap of 27 bullets over his chest, and returned with the AK47. He walked out of the woods firing. Good thing he was a awful shot.

Now if it hadn't happened last night, it could have happened in his school when he became "agitated", and he could have possibly pulled off another VA Tech. Scary, very scary...

[micfranklin]

The kid should be in a health facility, I originally thought about juvy but that might be too much. Then again he was 16 and I'm sure he knew what he was doing.

[Trish]

The one report said that the boy had been treated for autism. If that is acurate, it may be that he actually didn't know what he was doing was wrong. As I understand autism, those affected have various degrees of difficulty in relating to other people in any meaningful way.

Certainly, this can't be simply swept under the rug because of the boy's age. If he does have a mental impairment, then he should be in a mental health facility. If he doesn't have a mental impairment, then he should be prosecuted for his crime. A 16 year old certainly knows the difference in right and wrong!

Brien - I'm grateful your children, and the rest of the people involved in this, were not injured!

[Pookie]

Yeah, my Gods! Brien, thank God your children weren't hurt. This child needs help but if it is found he knew what he was doing and did it because of that, he needs to be incarcerated.
Needing help is one thing, being a total insensitive criminal is quite another.
Purrs,
Pookie

[PostmodernProphet]

the parent of an autistic child keeps an AK47 in the home?.....I know several families with autistic children.....that is not something you do......

[Osborn F. Enready]

Firstly, very sorry this hit so close to home Brien.....

I think the child should be held accountable for his actions with respect to his medical issues, but I think the source of the gun, that person should also be prosecuted. If it was the fathers gun, and the child gained access to it, I think the father bears the brunt of the burden here for reciprocity and justice. The parents raised the child, he was still under thier legal charge, and if they provided the unhindered access to the gun they too should be held accountable in some manner. ( I see no reason why parents of an autistic child couldn't have a gun of any type, as long as its properly stored/restrained from misuse )

Brien, I hope your son or daughter suffered no hearing loss or ear damage... that can be a big factor in these situations....

Glad to hear everyone survived otherwise uninjured and I have to commend you for raising such a responsible young man with such clear thinking.

I am sure it was quite traumatic for everyone involved, so I wish you the best in getting your lives back to normal and moving on with a renewed appreciation of family and life in general.

[brien]

Thanks for everyone's concern, I really take it to heart. Now to the update.

The 16 year old is going to be tried as an adult. He remains in custody under observation. Experts have agreed that his "Aspergers" degree of Autism has nothing to do with this fellows behavior. It is a red herring. This kid knew exactly what he was doing. Here is the time line:

Kid confronts my son and two of his freinds on the basketball court. Kid draws out a large knife and my son tells him to put it away and go home. Kid suspct says "I'll go home all right, and get my AK47".

All three basketball players laugh at him and tell him to go home. One player calls him an "idiot" and kid suspect says to him "I'll show you. I am going home to get it and I 'm coming back to shoot and kill you." All three laughed at him again and he left.

10 minutes later he returns and starts shooting up the place.

His father made a statement to the Hartford Courant in which he said the house was locked, the room where the rifle was located was locked, and the ammunition was hidden.

Now let's examine this. The kid suspect's house is about 200 yards away from the basketball court. This means the kid had to do all of the following in 10 minutes to be back at the court:

1) go back to his house
2) Break into his locked house
3) Break into the locked room to get the rifle
3) Find the "hidden" ammo
5) Load the rifle.
6) Change into a black jumpsuit
7) return to the court.

All in 10 minutes.

I don't believe this all happened in this timeline for one second. If it is true, then the kid suspect was fully aware of how to operate and load the AK 47. Who taught him? He had to know where the ammuntion was hidden or did he just stumble across it? SO many questions.

Nope, I believe the kid suspect was fullly familiar with the rifle. The rifle was loaded and he knew exactly where it was in the home. 10 minutes would allow him to go home, change, get the rifle, load it, and return. No breaking iinto the house, no breaking into a locked room, and certainly no locating the ammunition. Just not enough time for this scenario.

Two abutting neighbors have complained of an ATV roaming the suspect's property, sometimes up until midnight, and furthermore, have heard semi automatic gunfire coming from the ATV. Not once, but several times. The neighbors are reliable and I have known them for 15 years.

This tells me that the kid suspect was probaly using this AK47, and other semi automatics, on a regular basis, and was fully aware of what he was doing with the rifle.

But the investigation is not closed yet, and when these facts come out, this kid's father will proabably be charged with reckless endangerment, and failing to secure his gun collection from minors, among other charges...

I am eternally thankful no one was hurt that evening. Now I want the father to answer for his negligence and contributory role in this crime.