Teen shot in head during home invasion prank ...

[David2012]

This is a head scratcher...you're gonna go, WTF!


8 teenage boys were having a weekend sleep over in a unoccupied home belonging to one of the boys grandmother. About 2;30 am, a several of them decided to prank the others into thinking there was some kind of home invasion going on. They cut the lights and then as some of the boys were looking for the breaker box, one boy jumped out of a closet to scare them. That is when one of the other boys was startled, pulled a .38 and shot the kid coming out of the closet in the head.

The local Sheriff called it a tragic prank that went wrong and no charges will be filed. My question would be why in the world would a teenage boy be carrying a .38 revolver at a weekend sleep over???? I don't know about their state, but in Oklahoma wouldn't it would be a crime for a teen to have possession of a loaded pistol? And wouldn't the parent be guilty of a crime if it was their gun? Sure a lot of questions not answered in this story. I just find it very hard to believe that this is simply being written off as a prank gone wrong and no charges will be filed. If it was my kid that had been shot, I'd be raising bloody hell!

Teen Shot in Head During Home Invasion Prank

By Alyssa Newcomb
Oct 14, 2012 5:14pm
A 15-year-old Alabama boy is in critical condition today after he was shot in the head by a friend during prank that police said went terribly wrong.

Jesse Rainey, 15, and seven male friends were spending the weekend at an unoccupied home that belonged to the grandmother of one of the boys, when a few of the teens decided to prank their friends by faking a home intrusion, Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May told ABCNews.com.
“One of the young men cut the lights to the house, then a few of the other guys snuck back inside, wanting their friends to believe there was an intruder,” May said.

The teens were in the process of using flashlights to find the switch box, when Rainey jumped out of a closet.

His rattled friend immediately dropped a video game and fired a shot into Rainey’s head with a .38 caliber hand gun.

May called the shooting “accidental” and said after interviewing all of the boys and conferring with the district attorney’s office, no charges will be filed. Drugs and alcohol were also not a factor in the shooting.

The teens called 911 at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Dispatchers were unable to find the home, which is off the beaten path, on a map, so the boys put Rainey in the bed of a pickup truck and drove him 10 minutes to a Midway convenience store. They were met there by sheriff’s deputies and a medical team, May said.

Rainey was taken to Helen Keller Hospital, where he was stabilized before being transferred to the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Ala.

May said the boys are all close friends who attend Colbert Heights High School together.
“This was a prank that went terribly wrong,” he said.


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/teen-shot-in-head-during-home-invasion-prank/

 

[scooby13dew]

what was a teen doing with a 38?

 

[68mustang]

I'm guessing gun was grannys?

 

[dennishoddy]

My kids owned rifles, shotguns and pistols at that age.
Couldn't buy ammo.

 

[MLRyan]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[reddog1]

Very sad. Prayers go out to all involved.

 

[Dave70968]

This is a head scratcher...you're gonna go, WTF!


8 teenage boys were having a weekend sleep over in a unoccupied home belonging to one of the boys grandmother. About 2;30 am, a several of them decided to prank the others into thinking there was some kind of home invasion going on. They cut the lights and then as some of the boys were looking for the breaker box, one boy jumped out of a closet to scare them. That is when one of the other boys was startled, pulled a .38 and shot the kid coming out of the closet in the head.

The local Sheriff called it a tragic prank that went wrong and no charges will be filed. My question would be why in the world would a teenage boy be carrying a .38 revolver at a weekend sleep over???? I don't know about their state, but in Oklahoma wouldn't it would be a crime for a teen to have possession of a loaded pistol? And wouldn't the parent be guilty of a crime if it was their gun? Sure a lot of questions not answered in this story. I just find it very hard to believe that this is simply being written off as a prank gone wrong and no charges will be filed. If it was my kid that had been shot, I'd be raising bloody hell!

If it was your kid that had been shot, you'd be a failure as a parent for not teaching him good sense.

 

[Perplexed]

If it was your kid that had been shot, you'd be a failure as a parent for not teaching him good sense.

Why is that? I don't think any kids pulling a scare prank like this, inside a home with a bunch of their friends, expect to get shot. If anything, you should be questioning the parents of the kid who did the shooting.

 

[MLRyan]

I blame Call of Honor:Medal of Duty

 

[Dave70968]

Why is that? I don't think any kids pulling a scare prank like this, inside a home with a bunch of their friends, expect to get shot. If anything, you should be questioning the parents of the kid who did the shooting.

You think making somebody believe that he's been the victim of a potentially-violent felony is a "prank?" That's the failure of good sense: the "pranksters" didn't think through the potential consequences of making their subject believe he was the victim of a home invasion.

I realize this was in Alabama, but let's look at it in the context of Oklahoma law.

§21-1289.25. Physical or deadly force against intruder.
PHYSICAL OR DEADLY FORCE AGAINST INTRUDER
A. The Legislature hereby recognizes that the citizens of the State of Oklahoma have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes or places of business.
B. A person or an owner, manager or employee of a business is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:
1. The person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, occupied vehicle, or a place of business, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against the will of that person from the dwelling, residence, occupied vehicle, or place of business; and
2. The person who uses defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.
<emphasis mine>

Pay close attention to the boldface parts. The Legislature has affirmatively found that A) one has a right to expect absolute safety in his home, and B) that if somebody breaks into your home, you're presumed to have a reasonable fear for your safety. You're not required to ask your invader his intent, or wait for him to start waving a gun at you; when you see him unlawfully in your home, you get to act first.

The mental midgets in question deliberately and willfully created in the shooter's mind the impression that he was in a home invasion. This brilliant decision caused the shooter to fear for his life--reasonably, in the eyes of the Legislature, and frankly, anybody with a lick of sense--and to act accordingly. I will grant you that they were not unlawful invaders for the purpose of section (B)(1); however, section (B) would be fundamentally pointless if the law imposed a duty to ask "hey, are you a real home invader, or just a dumbass playing pranks?" before defending oneself. The shooter, reasonably believing he was the subject of a home invasion (remember, creating that belief that was the other kids' stated intent), responded accordingly. If my kid responded the same way, I'd be proud of him for acting in his own--and potentially my--defense.

The decedent should be buried in a hermetically-sealed coffin to make sure none of his aggravated stupidity seeps into the groundwater.