Oh man. What a god dam tragedy. My guess is his son was messing around with Halloween being right around the corner.

When he seen his father, he recognized him and was going to scare him. The father didn't know who he was. I cannot imagine if I were in this guys shoes. There's got to be a reasonable explanation and I doubt very much the kid was going to harm the neighbor. He was just messing around.

Too much TV for everyone and this is what happens. RIP dude and I hope your father recovers from this tragedy. It's something you never get over, It's something you have to learn to live with...

Apparently the teen was lurking around a neighbor's (his sister's) house, in a black ski-mask and clothing, on a week night at 1am. Although the MSNBC report only mentions that the shooter saw a 'shiny object' in the teen's hands... the Cincinatti report indicates that a weapon was found. It didn't specify any more detail as to what kind of weapon.

I recall as a youngster enjoying running around at night in all black and pulling pranks, but I wouldn't be carrying a weapon, and it wouldn't be on a weeknight, and I definitely wouldn't challenge an adult confronting me....

I'd hate to say it, but it sure seems like this kid may have been up to no good - but at his sister's house? Totally confusing.

What is a 15-year-old wearing a ski mask doing out at 1 a.m. on a Thursday in a neighbor's yard? This kid had more than Halloween on his mind.

Damn Creek Dog, the dad didn't throw a TV at him.

Here's the thing - if this was any other case and the father would have caught or even killed someone trying to break into someone's house, you probably would have said - if he didn't have a gun, the guy would have gotten away or killed or raped the neighbor, he was only able to stop the guy cause he had a gun. But in this case where the father kills his son, you have to use the same statement - if he didn't have a gun, the son would not be dead. You can't have it both ways, where if it's a good outcome it's because of the gun but if it's a bad outcome it's any other reason other than the gun.

Now, don't get me wrong bro, I believe in the right to own guns and don't want that taken away, I just realize that it's a two-way street.

The kid was breaking in to a neighbor's house at 1 am

The neighbor was his sister. Not sure why MSNBC left that detail out.

In this case, "guns don't kill people", a man kills a burglar, a dad kills a son.

With the ski mask on, I wonder if the boy knew that it was his father.

Holloween pranks don't involve wearing ski-masks, dressing in black, carrying a knife and attempting to break into your neighbor's home who's a female alone at night! Most rapes happen to women by people they know. Sad for the father, but he may have stopped his son from doing something terrible, it's a shame he lost his son. He sounds like a great teacher. Some seeds just go bad!

Dave & sleepinsadie,

Too much TV,..........just an expression. Never heard of that? With the instant Internet and all the wild imaginations portrayed on TV, imaginations can run wild and this could somewhat be a result of this.

Dave, anti NRA are ya!? Too many guns my ass. Gall? We all have that. This forum is here for anyone to express their thoughts. Just as yourselves. And you have. Where's your sympathy for the father and son? You expressed none.

Have a nice weekend...

@sal - ya, when the masked guy came at him with that weapon, he should have asked, "Hey, are you trying to kill me or something?"

somehing is off here and more to be discovered, a son lurking around a neighbors house at 1am while wearing a mask is confronted by his dad, the first thing out of his(the kid) mouth should have been Hey Dad it's just me! Silly joke, sorry I scared everyone; but no we have the kid coming at the father with a weapon of some sort and being killed. Sad event.

There are a lot of parts to this story missing. Trying to guess what really happened is pretty pointless, too many unexplained things. We may never know the truth.

perfect example as to why citizens dont need to own guns because obviously people dont know how to make sound decisions.

Ummm, actually Sal - you apparently are not one to speak on the subject. You obviously have no clue what you are talking about.

Coming from myself, a person with both police and military training in just about every circumstance you can imagine:

A masked prowler late at night with what appears to be a weapon in his hand approaching you aggressively within 20ft is considered a lethal threat, and deadly force is authorized. If this was a police officer responding, the prowler would have been taken down as well and it would have been well within appropriate responses for the use of deadly force.

Is it me? I'm sure the first time I read through this that the fact that this was the father's sister wasn't in the article. Still, the fact remains that if this was a prank, the kid, wearing a ski-mask went after his father in a threatening way at 1 am in the morning.

I'll say this though, if someone is breaking into your home and you're inside, turn on all your porch lights letting them know you know they are out there and call the police - just turning on the lights will frighten off most burglars.

kenho,

You broke the 1st code of honor. Need a little soap in your mouth brotha, to clean it up a little.

Have a nice weekend...

CD

A attempted break-in during the night, a person wearing a ski mask and charging you with an apparent weapon: Nearly anyone WOULD shoot this character.

It is a terrible shame that it was this man's son. However, there is something REALLY wrong here. This kid must have been on drugs, looking for something to steal from his sister's house for money or something.

If you do what this kid did, you had probably expect it to end very badly.

Reading other posts, I'm guessing it wasn't just me, it seems like the fact that this was the father's sister was added to the story recently after I read it the first time.

I wonder if we'll ever find out what the "shiny object" was the kid was carrying. A screw driver maybe to try and pry a window open? The woman said he was trying to break in, so she must have heard him struggling with the windows/doors or something. Family don't usually go around trying to pry open and cause damage to other family member's homes. I mean, a prank? Wow, that was so funny, but not as funny as having to replace that $500 window frame!

@ Creek Dog...I'd suggest you go back and actually read my post...where did I say anything about anti-NRA or too many guns? If you actually bothered to read before you commented, you'd see I said that I believe in the right to own guns and don't want that taken away...but somehow, you take that as anti-NRA?

And while I'm sure it made you feel so compassionate to say - no sympathy for the father and son...dude, I'm sure everyone feels badly for the father who killed his son and the son who is now dead. I don't feel the need to express sympathy to them on a messageboard that they'll never read - I express sympathy to people directly, sympathy on a messageboard means nothing to me. Sorry if that sounds cold, but I think public messageboard displays of sympathy when the actual people who need it won't get it from a messageboard is simply self-emotional masturbation.

You have a nice weekend too man, hope the weather allows you to enjoy it.

I actually agree with somebody named "Proud 2B Liberal".

But really, what would you do? A masked person, who broke into the home, coming at you with a weapon.

CREEK DOG...

You are right about one thing, there has to be a reasonable explanation...just not yours. First of all, Halloween is over a month away. Can't imagine anybody would be pulling a Halloween prank this early. Secondly, what the hell does TV have to do with it? And do you know for sure he was just 'messing around' with the neighbor who just happened to be his aunt? Keep your speculations to yourself. That's how rumors get started.

sleepinsadie,

I directed the NRA thing towards Dave. "Not you". I "did" read before commenting.

B form NY,

Keep my speculations to myself?! LOL. If that's the case, what's your excuse? Are you not "speculating?! OMG. Give me a break. Sorry man but is sounds Hippocratic to me. "Just speculating!" That's all.....

Kids do stupid things alright, but don't deserve to be shot.

Agreed, I hesitate to think that this was a prank - because that would be just too sad. But I can't blame the father for how he reacted either. That's what makes a tragedy a tragedy.

Yep.... anybody comes through my front door that shouldn't they'll have to deal with me, SMith and wessson .....damn shame the kids had to pay for his Da'ds Darwin lessson.

Dammit, sorry Creek Dog (having the name Dave confused me...hahahaha)...my humble apology

Drugs. On drugs looking for more drug money so he attempts to break into his aunts house to steal.

I'd hate to say it, but it sure seems like this kid may have been up to no good - but at his sister's house? Totally confusing.

Not really. Growing up, my parents' house was about six hundred feet from my Aunt's and Uncle's, on the same side of the road. My cousins, siblings - we were always at each other's houses.

But yep, he was definitely up to no good. Crazy kid. Awful that his dad will suffer from this for life.

This is a terrible tragedy. But yes, as many of the other posters here have noted, something was amiss: not sure why his son was sneaking up to his sister's house, carrying what may or may not be a weapon (but certainly looked like one). Also not sure why dad was so quick to shoot, and why they didn't just call the police.

Mike-the reason people say "people kill people" is because guns are a tool, not a sentient object. A gun lying on a table is not going to do anything unless something external acts on it. I was thinking about this the other day, and to me, the phrase "guns kill people" almost implies that it's the gun's fault, and we shouldn't blame the person who pulled the trigger-after all, the gun was the killer (and I think that absolutely, whomever pulled the trigger is responsible for the consequences of their actions-or, in a different scenario, whomever left a loaded gun unsecured, lying around the house for their young children to find should shoulder the blame for that). I think a more accurate statement would be "people use guns to kill people".

"a perfect example as to why citizens don’t need to own guns because obviously people don’t know how to make sound decisions." -- It is beyond naive and blind to think the police are your soul protection or that as individuals we do not have a responsibility to protect ourselves.

A police officer is there to assist and manage the policing of a neighborhood. The rest of us are there to do the policing. As tragic as this event was all but the boy was doing what they should have been doing. The father is not an idiot but an unfortunate hero.

The only thing I can see is why did he allow his son out at that time? Did he know? Why would the son think this was an ok activity? There has got to be more to the story.

If they would have called the police instead of shooting first nobody would be dead. It's pretty clear cut. It says she "believed" that someone was breaking in. Why not just call the police instead of taking matters in your own hands? Sadly, many wackos out there hope and pray for their opportunity to shoot someone. Sad, sad, sad.

I also doubt he ever had a day of training either.

So why burglary ? Could of been a peeping tom, attempted rape, can't really ask the dead kid.

Creek Dog

Not sure where I am speculating. I have no idea what happened and never offered up any kind of explanation but you are outright making up a whole damn scenario. Halloween prank. Messing around. Too much TV! Do you work for the Enquirer?? Or just into drama?

I smell a loophole being abused.

It is perfectly legal to kill a person breaking and entering, and wearing a mask (and it should be).

The dad for some reason doesn't like the son, so he buys a gun, a mask, and some gloves. The gloves he puts on to handle the mask after shooting the son down in cold blood, making it look later like an accident. He puts the gloves away, returns to the scene and calls 911, touching the mask this time to expose his son's face, at which point he acts shocked in front of emergency tech and police.

They should look under recent records of purchase both online and in local stores, for gloves and a mask. And a gun.

So, here we have a man responding to a call from his sister saying that someone was trying to break into her house. He grabbed his gun and went to her house, found a guy outside the house dressed in black wearing a mask with a shiny object in his hand, and that guy charged at him. He shot him in self-defense. Now, I don't know the gun laws in Connecticut, and if the gun was illegal, then the man will face some kind of charge. But as far as his actual act: what was he supposed to do? Ask the guy entirely clad in black with his face masked and with an apparent weapon in his hand, "Hey, are you intending to harm me in any way? Oh, and by the way, are you my son?" I don't care how many howls of protest are made by the oh-so-saintly anti-gun crowd on here: ANYONE would have reacted in the same manner that this guy did. He now has to live with the constant reminders that he killed his own son, but hey, the son brought it upon himself. It's not nice to say "He had it coming," but, truth be told, he pretty much did.

Okay Sal, suppose you tell us all just exactly how YOU would handle the same situation, in the dark of the night being lunged at by an unknown intruder with a shiny object in his hand. I can't wait to hear your fairy tale scenario you idiot.

@Jeffor - I called the police once to report people shooting guns outside of my apartment in the parking lot. I could tell there was more than one person because they were yelling and at least 2 guns by how they fired. One was a revolver and the other an automatic. I don't know what they were up to, but people shooting off a couple dozen shots seems like it'd get a quick response from the police. Two hours later, they showed up at my door, about one hour and fifty minutes after the shooters had left.

Also, we don't know if they didn't also call the police. I would have.

Man mistakenly kills son, wife, son mistakenly kills dad, mother, mother mistakenly kills baby, husband son, daughter.

Wow, this stuff goes on forever. Guns and stupidity don't mix. People can't drive a car unless they have proven a certain skill level but any idiot can own a gun. And don't bring up the Constitution because laws are passed that prevent people from owning guns. We just need to expand those laws.

B from NY,

Read all the posts and a large % of them are speculating on what the possibilities are. I'm just guessing as to how this happened altogether. When we all know exactly what happened in the future, we'll fall back (in our heads) to see who was closest as to the possibilities. You know, "Who nailed it".

It turns out (from what I'm reading) it was his sisters house. Being one of eight kids, I played many pranks on my brothers and sisters growing up and had a blast doing it. Just wish the Internet was around to post it on You-Tube. :-)

You wrote; Halloween is over a month away. Can't imagine anybody would be pulling a Halloween prank this early.

Speculating? Look, I'm not here to argue. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we're all curious as to how and why did this happened.

Have a good day and I apologize if I ruffled your feathers...

sleepinsadie,

No problem man......Fugetaboutit! :-)

To all those who used foul and disparaging language to attack Creek Dog and who obviously misinterpreted what he said, your personal attacks do nothing to further your own argument. We are all entitled to our own opinions. I agree with Creek Dog about the impact of TV though am pro gun ownership provided people don't carry weapons in the streets. Compassion in this case is certainly warranted.

Argumentum ad hominem is the logical fallacy of attempting to undermine a speaker's argument by attacking the speaker instead of addressing the argument. The mere presence of a personal attack does not indicate ad hominem: the attack must be used for the purpose of undermining the argument, or otherwise the logical fallacy isn't there. It is not a logical fallacy to attack someone; the fallacy comes from assuming that a personal attack is also necessarily an attack on that person's arguments.

Yeah, those who spew the mantra that only the police should have guns naively believe that the police are there to protect them. The police are there to question any witnesses and investigate the crime scene. Doesn't do you much good when you're dead.

Yes that is the sad thing. It could have just been a silly prank. Of course kids don't always think things through before they act. One more good reason to not shoot and kill people willy-nilly.

And for ALL of you other anti gun people on here howling your BS. I HOPE LIKE HELL that at some point in each and every one of your lives that you are unfortunate enough to experience a life threatening situation perpetrated by some of the low life garbage walking around out there amongst us, and if afterwards you were fortunate enough to survive it, watch how fast you cut a trail to the nearest gun dealer to arm yourselves just in case a next time does come your way again. You are ALL idiots. Experience it first, and THEN let's hear you howl your BS, dumbazzes

Mike from Oklahoma- Oh come all the anti gun nuts dragging out the same old argument that Guns are some how crawiling out and shooting people- so we can take the resposnibility off of people and put it on an inatimate object.

Like there is no way the dad could have hit the masked person in the head with a bat.

In your world you want all law abiding citezens to be at the mercy of the strongest baddest criminal. When you show me the cops can stop all criminals i might listen to your anti gun crap. Until then cops main job is to take pictures of crime scenes- not stop criminals. At this point is my job to protect m household and family. That right should not be taken away because some dad and son doe something stupid and tragic as this.

You are just a troll looking for analogies to bolster your mindless arguments. You are not helping your cause.

By the way CRIMINALS would also like for law abiding citizens owning a gun to be a crime. Then they will know when barging into a home that they will be the only one holding a gun.

And yet another giant win for the NRA and gun nuts everywhere. Shoot first and ask questions later. Much later.

Hiding and waiting two hours for the police is certainly preferable than going outside and getting into a gun battle. I know it does depend upon where you live. The small town I live in now a report of shots fired would bring every cop from the surrounding three counties. In a place like DC it's business as usual. All I know is I would rather avoid any such scenario. I don't want to shoot anyone.

If it was dark, the son probably didn't recognize his father, and so the son was probably acting in self-defense himself.

sometimes you read a sad story and this is a sad story...

The neighbor was his aunt not his sister. And the kid had a "shiny weapon" and lunged at his dad when confronted. Sounds like the kid was up to no good and it certainly wasn't a prank. My guess is he was looking for money to buy drugs and targeted his aunt because he knew where his aunt stored her money.

Geez, don't people comprehend what they read anymore? It was the FATHER's sister's house, the boy's aunt, not sibling. And we only have the shooter's word as to the nature of the "threat" from his burglar son. The "shiny weapon" may have only been a screwdriver. The dad probably shot the kid on sight without any warning. We only have his testament that he was confronted and threatened. Dead men can't defend themselves. In any case, the kid paid the ultimate price for his stupidity, and the father for his hair-triggered response. Lots of Idiocy Awards all around.

Suicide by dad?

How is it that we can read a few paragraphs and have all the answers to another tragic story? I have been guilty of this in the past and realize life isn't an episode of CSI. We are reading the Cliff Notes of a tragic night for this family and we are already placing blame on guns, TV, politics etc......

Just like TV we can close the case in 40 minutes.

Now, looking at it from a human perspective. Father shoots his son on his daughters property. Cops show up and need to file a report and it is well past 1am. How clear do you think these family members were explaining it to the police? Shock, despair, adrenaline, anger, fatigue and plenty of other emotions and physical reactions are all in the mix. On top of that you have reporters on their Internet deadlines rushing to get the copy on-line. Yet we are judge and jury.

Next week this could be a completely different story and all the agenda folks will look foolish. What really catches my eye are the people complaining about guns. The stark reality is this, if you take away the right to bear arms only the criminals will have guns becuase banning them does not make them go away. Prohibition did not eliminate alcohol, the war on drugs has not elimnated drugs and to another extreme the death penalty has not stopped people from killing others.

Think about it.

Too many guns? Knuckleheads.

No matter how much you anti-gun nuts cry and whine it'll never scrub that keystone right from our mighty Constitution.

Would another knife have been ok? or less? Should the home owner have less to defend himself with and then you lefty's would be ok?

Think before you type leftists.

Rightist retard above me ^ Think of how nice a less permanent solution to this would have been before you go spouting off "they ain't terk err guuns." If guns were outlawed for uses other than war, and this guy had a tazer or mace... Kid would be shocked or blinded, but not dead cuz someone wanted to be that "hero badass" or w/e you ppl's fantasy is.

No, think before you shoot. Geesh. Guns are not really the problem, it is the stand your ground idiocy. And ensure that knuckleheads are trained before they are allowed to take them out of the house itself.

Besides, guns only work for the moment. If someone is out to get you, your guns are rather worthless.

Peace,

Myst

When I go camping in the North Absaroka there are grizzley bear signs everywhere telling my ass that I could be eatin. Give me real potent pepper spray over a gun any damn day of the week. For one thing it will save you more often than a gun would as it requires a less accurate aim, but as with human or grizzley alike I wouldn't want to kill it, but seeing it throb in pain as it's eye's burn through it's skull is a more pleasing experience. (And also knowing that the last thing on it's mind, human or bear alike, is eating or killing you). Think about this numb nuts...

1.59 - and you are clairvoyant/omnipotent and know where every gun ever made is currently so that you can run around and pick them up?

Outlawing the use of guns for other than war doesn't stop them from being used for those other purposes. It just becomes another charge for the DA to add to the list.

@sal palazzola....he shot, you idiot, because he feared for his safety and DID NOT KNOW it was his son...this was NOT the dads fault...it was the kid, who was obviously up to no good.

a classic example of shoot first ask questions later. what an idiot and yes charges need to be brought against this idiot. a perfect example as to why citizens dont need to own guns because obviously people dont know how to make sound decisions. there probably wasnt any immenant threat from this kid which begs the question why did he shoot?

Sal.... if you had read the story, you would have seen that the kid had a weapon of some sort in his hand. I wasn't aware that a 15 year old armed with a weapon and closing on someone would not qualify as an imminent threat. Are you saying you would ask an approaching masked and armed individual who they were and what their intentions are before trying to defend yourself? Let me know how that "sound decision making" works out for you if you're ever in a similar situation.

Tragic story. This will probably mess the family up for the rest of their lives. I cannot, and do not want to, imagine the absolute devastating loss.

However, I must admit I am enjoying reading Creek Dog destroy some of the other knuckleheads who are attacking him on this post.

And sleepinsadie, good on ya for apologizing for the mistake. Rarely seen honestly and humility in an open forum like this.

@Status

Got news for you lefty...you don't protect your home to be a hero. You protect it to protect it.

Pepper spray isnt 100% effective. 10% of the human population are completey unfazed by capsaicin.

Tazers can easily render both user and receiver incapacitated if physical contact occurs. All fine and good as long as you get up first or he doesnt have a friend.

Even having a firearm is no guarantee you'll live through a hostile encounter. Escpecially these days when many criminals show up with PCP or other drugs (that grizzlies don't use) in there system.

You feel that riding the razor's edge of safety and security is noble and makes you smarter. You can definatley argue that point daily becasue you live in relative safety most days. God forbid the one day arrives that teaches you differently after its already to late.

Pretending the world is safe doesnt make it safe.

You answered your own question Don. If you don't willfully surrender your gun than the mere possession of a gun will get you 20 years in the big house. Sure there will still be ppl refusing to give them up, but now if possession gets you 20, imagine what using it will get you..

The kid was obviously planning something. A prank? Not with a weapon in his hand. Robbing his aunt? Maybe. Robbing his aunt and killing her? Maybe he had a weapon. Killing his aunt? Maybe and maybe his father was next. Halloween? It is a month away. So doubtful. The fact the man shot his son is tragic. He could have picked up the phone instead of the gun. But then it might have been the cops who killed his son instead of him. Or the kid would have been on his way to jail or a mental facility. My bet is the kid left a journal or clues on his facebook page.

A terrible chain of events, now days with all these smart weapons that can get out of locked cases and are capable of self loading, finding victims and discharging on them makes the world a dangerousplace. now how about some facts for the story, 9 out of 10 crimes committed are done by someone you know and trust, almost all murders are committed by someone you know and trust, if the gun had not shown up this could have been a unsolved knifing instead of a shooting. I'm almost 100% sure that the gun made the knife force the boy to dress up in black, put on a mask, and break into his aunts house (assuming it was a knife, not a tool) this was all a setup bythe gun to get the knife, it backfired terribly when the boy took the bullet intended for the knife, either way the gun will run off with all the credit. guns just love publicity. now your only defence against the gun is to go to school and acquire a doctorate your only hope will be if you are smarter then the gun. but remember all the old standbys are still out there waiting for you to drop your guard, things like Fire, axes, hatchets, machete's, clubs, bats, scissors, cars, subways, cliffs and bridges, even water, not to mention box cutters, arrows, spears, explosives, electricity, poison and the all time favorite Stupidity, every thing I mentioned has been used at least once in the past 9 months, there are more things to list but we have to stop someplace, lets not forget the weed sprayer full of gasoline used in the NY City elevator to take out some little old lady, that was a gun masquerading as a weed sprayer, if you want gun laws move to Mexico, Syria or North Korea someplace that already has them. better yet lets look into the root of the problem what is the one factor that is always present when any form of death occurs, is it people well lets start eliminating the people we need people control lets get the ovens going.

@ D Buck

Bingo.

What kills me is Status stated in a previous post (1.59) that guns should be outlawed for all but war.

Protecting your home from an intruder (or intruders), who aims to do any number of unknown offenses (upto and including rape and murder), with any number of unknown weapons to accomplish this action, comes down to a battle of wills between the offender and the defender.

What is war but a larger battle of wills by larger social groups of offenders and defenders, with similar unknown variables?

People are idiots taking the law into their own hands, call the police. This father now has to suffer the rest of his life knowing he's an idiot and killed his own child trying to be a big man with his gun.

I own a gun, but believe me I would never go looking (i.e. outside my house) to confront a prowler with my gun. It is a LAST RESORT when your life is seriously threatened. It's hard to feel sorry for this guy, he wasn't in danger and should have realized he has no training in apprehending or confronting suspected criminals.

Once a bullet leaves a gun history is written, in this case a dead son.

THIS IS WHY WE HAVE POLICE!

Shoot first, ask questions later - and now that entire family will be in a living hell the rest of their lives. And some people actually think everyone should go around packing heat at all times? People with guns DO kill people.

If you shoot a gun in real life, you better mean it. There's no reset button.

Americans can't seem to grasp that their fear of being involved in a violent/deadly encounter is directly related to the prolific spread of firearms in your country.

@ Credit

Humans (not Americans) were being killed in violent and deadly personal encounters long before firearms were invented.

I'm not sure how you've reduced violence down to a uniquely American or firearm issue.

@Lib50

People with guns DO kill people. That's what they are for...and longbows with steel tipped arrows before that...and broadswords before that...etc, etc. Welcome to the real world Neo.

Good people with guns DO kill bad people too! Bad people with guns DO kill good people too! Are we learning yet?

@Overlord

Call the police! Yes, do call the police. What happens from that point until the police arrive?

Allow me to answer...anything the offender wishes to happen because you choose to completely rely on the State for everything (including food and health care I'd wager.)

@ Overlord

because you choose to completely rely on the State for everything (including food and health care I'd wager.)

Truthfully Overlord...that's not a fair statement to you. You in no way said your reliant on the police. But, others did on this thread and I vented directly at you over calling the Police.

It is not calling the Police I disagree with...it's some saying it's the only option.

It was unfair and I apologize to you.

I have been in an extremely scary situation while armed. The trick is to NOT to put your finger on the trigger until you KNOW who/what you are shooting at and/or UNTIL you are CERTAIN your life is in definite danger. It's not an easy thing to do while frightened, but control MUST be maintained, it is your responsibility as a gun owner.

Man I really can spin" I should be on the factor.

@SabotAndHeat

You are trying to defend an un defend able position here. Your rage is spilling out onto what you type now. If you can cite for me just 10 instances where a person clearly saved themselves or others from death with a firearm then I will reconsider my position on gun control. I wager you cannot because you right wingers play a lot on the "hypothetical" field, and you absolutely thrive on fear.

@D Buck,

You make so many assertions in that paragraph you wrote that all you accomplished was to increase the time it takes to scroll down to these comments. I refuse your offer to move to another country and I am appalled that you would think that one of the most progressive countries on the planet won't get their $h1+ together eventually and that we wouldn't be better for it. Also, you picked some doozies there I see with Syria, NK, and Mexico. I can only hope that that was a joke and you are really not that stupid. How about instead of right wing fear you come out and use more suitable countries that happen to have it right? England, Germany and Australia to name a few.....

@ Status

I already apologized to the gentlemen. You don't need to ride his coat tails over my outburst. I also did not retract the truth of my statement, but to him specifically. My thoughts about the suckling leftists stands.

You are also trying to defend and un-defendable position.

For you to ask me for "ten instances", points to you thinking that in the history of firearms that less than ten instances of justified self defense with a firearm occured. That thought process is absurd.

Also, should I provide ten instances I'm sure that...like this instance above you will simply provide a counter leftist arguement of how the defender was wrong in his action. The statement of justification also hinges on your personal opinion of justification.

The good news is...your opinion matters not for who is justified in self defense with a firearm. Point blank, I don't need to argue the virtues of gun ownership or their use. Our U.S. Constitution protects our rights to own them and use them if necessary.

That necessity is scrutinzed in court (if necessary) and the jury examines if the defenders actions were reasonable. If they say yes, then the defender is protected, the violator is buried and your s#!t outta luck in your argument here in the United States of America.

Take care and have a great day.

According to another report on this (bbc) the neighbor was the mans daughter, and the boys sister. More likely he was playing a prank than anything else, IMO.

Watch the video.

I agree with your questions and comments Mike. It all seems very strange to me how this all occurred and would like to know what were the teen's intentions and why did he not take off his mask once he saw his father?? Shiny object?? Need more info.

It was his sister's house wasn't it? A prank? Ill-conceived plan to get some prescription pharmaceuticals? Who knows? Just remember, guns don't kill people. People who like guns kill people.

It was his AUNT....His father's siter....Duh

Mike from Oklahoma- Oh come all the anti gun nuts dragging out the same old argument that Guns are some how crawiling out and shooting people- so we can take the resposnibility off of people and put it on an inatimate object.

Like there is no way the dad could have hit the masked person in the head with a bat.

In your world you want all law abiding citezens to be at the mercy of the strongest baddest criminal. When you show me the cops can stop all criminals i might listen to your anti gun crap. Until then cops main job is to take pictures of crime scenes- not stop criminals. At this point is my job to protect m household and family. That right should not be taken away because some dad and son doe something stupid and tragic as this.

You are just a troll looking for analogies to bolster your mindless arguments. You are not helping your cause.

By the way CRIMINALS would also like for law abiding citizens owning a gun to be a crime. Then they will know when barging into a home that they will be the only one holding a gun.

I feel bad for the father.

It's not just a neighbor, this would have been the kids AUNT! So, either the nephew was robbing his Aunt, or preparing to rape his AUNT! Either way, why the mask and what was the shiny object? Yes, a shame all the way around. Didn't the dad hear his kid sneak out? Just how many people have guns and head out ready to shoot?

Why not stop to call 9-1-1 and call the cops? Aren't we told the cops are the ones trained to handle this? Zimmerman knew and could have avoided killing a person. This guy could have avoided killing his own son had the Aunt called 9-1-1 as well, or the dad. Another senseless death avoided with a call to the cops.

The shooter's sister was alone in her house when she believed someone was breaking in. She called her brother, who lives next door, and he grabbed a gun and went outside to investigate, police said.

Unless they changed the article after you posted, it clearly states that it was the man's sister. That makes her the boy's Aunt. I bet you anything that the father is wishing he didn't own a gun right now. If he had hit the robber with a bat then pulled off him mask, this would be a totally different story.

While I do believe in the right to possess firearms, I personally would never own a gun. I imagine if I tried to pull it on someone to defend myself, they'd just end up taking it and shooting me.

You could still have your precious guns with training courses, waiting periods, limited clips, and no automatics.

That would be closer to the forefather's goal of a "well-trained militia," and farther from the mayhem and senseless killing of wack-jobs.

BTW. The standing professional army is against the wishes of the original intent of the second amendment. ( (because now I know you will say "no limits- because we are supposed to be able to overthrow our government.)

....So, if you are a "constitutional originalist purist," we neeed to disband and defund all our branches of military. And TRAIN our supposedly "well-trained militia" in other words- our citizens.

Reading is hard. Clearly it was his brothers sisters cousin.

The shooter's sister was alone in her house when she believed someone was breaking in. She called her brother, who lives next door, and he grabbed a gun and went outside to investigate, police said.

Actually the article states that the woman living next door was the shooters sister, not his daughter. That would make her the victims Aunt, which has been stated numerous times in these comments. Better re-read the article yourself before you start lecturing others on here.

Sweetcancer The article clearly states that it was the man's daughter, the boys sister.

The article states: The shooter's sister was alone in her house when she believed someone was breaking in. She called her brother, who lives next door,

Sweetcancer - Go reread the article yourself, find this line in the article and consider who was the shooter and who did she call, I doubt she called the kid that was breaking in...

...I hope its not brain cancer...

Ken Trout I just said I was wrong. I was trying to type the apology before anybody posted but I was too late. If you read my comment below I said that.

And no I do not have brain cancer. It was a mistake. Anyone can make one. Thank you. And cancer is my zodiac sign. Thats why I chose the name. My brain works very well thank you.

No cancer - it says it was the shooter's sister. The shooter was the father. That would make it the teens aunt. Before you make comments about other's reading comprehension, why don't you check your own?

While this is a tragedy, and I feel badly for the father because he will feel guilty for the rest of his life for killing his son, at the same time, I kinda think the kid got what he deserved: not only was he attempting to break into his aunt's house, he also attacked his father. Had this kid been a total stranger trying to break into the woman's house, people would be saying "justice served".

Stuff like this still won't change the minds of the "shoot to kill" crowd. If you can't take out a leg - then you ain't the Annie Oakley you claim to be.

Yeay guns! I can't think of the last time I heard a story where a person shot an actual burglar but I can think of about 5 where people shot family members who they thought were burglars!

Because when you buy a gun to protect your home statistically you are more likely to shoot a family member...

sweet...not everyone wakes up thinking clearly, and people make mistakes. Stop beating yourself up (LOL)...just read twice, before posting, next time. :D Have a better day.

It took five posts to set Sweetcancer straight - looks like sweet isn't the only one who can't read. No wonder these articles get 2000 replies - NIT PICKERS.

Man mistakenly kills son, wife, son mistakenly kills dad, mother, mother mistakenly kills baby, husband son, daughter. Wow this stuff goes on forever.

We can't drive a car without proving our skills but any idiot can buy a gun and use it with no knowledge at all. Don't give me that 2nd Amendment stuff either because we have laws preventing gun ownership, we just need more.

The kid got what he deserves....late night prowling, masked, shiney object. The kid was up to no good and the father did the right thing.

Sadly, he discovered his own son was the perpetrator and his emotional pain must be hard, but it doesn't change the facts that this kid put himself in that situation.

Anti-gun nuts....what if that "shiney object" was a knife and he was killing his aunt for insurance money. You do not know his intentions and neither do I. But, late night, mask, prowling....I say shoot 'em. At minimum, he was terrorizing his aunt. That's why she called for help.

It didnt take five posts to set me straight at all. I went back and reread the article all on my own and I realized I was wrong and I decided to type an aplogy. All on my own. They posted the comments while I was still typing my apology. Thats what happened. Nobody set me straight. I caught my own mistake and I apologized all on my own. Because when Im wrong I have no problem admitting I was wrong and I made a mistake. And I have no problem apologizing for it. This is to set the record straight.

@ Rae-1629223,

"Because when you buy a gun to protect your home statistically you are more likely to shoot a family member"

That's the biggest crock of shat I've ever heard. Now COMMON SENSE tells us all, if that were true, no one would own guns.

The man received a call from his sister next door that someone was trying to break into her house. Imagine the panic he felt. He wanted to protect her, so he grabbed his legal firearm and headed out to protect her. Why didn't he take a baseball bat? (as some have suggested) Why would I take a bat when the burglar may well have a knife or a gun, and he did own a gun? You take the best weapon you have. Outside, he encountered a figure in a ski mask. Okay, it's confirmed that there IS a burglar outside the house. Now he comes at me with something "shiny" in his hands. Regardless of what it is, if he is coming at me with it (rather than running away) then HE must think it's something that can subdue me. I do what my instincts tell me. I shoot the bad guy. Period.

If the guy had not been a legal gun owner, the headline could well read, "Man Killed by His Own Son Trying to Stop a Burglary"

Clearly it was his brothers sisters cousin.

No, it was his brother's sister's cousin's nephew's daughter, twice removed.

cancer - none of those other comments were there when I clicked post comment. That's probably what it was for most of the others too.

I wonder how much misinformation goes into people's opinions ?

Salvia, Apparently A LOT! Most of these folks still can't figure out the relation between the father and his sister that live next door to each other. I feel sorry for the dad but what was his son thinking? I still think every normal person should have some form of home protection, dog,gun, whatever. Tweekers and such are getting a lot braver just kicking in your door regardless of if you're home or not.

New Fairfield is a small community with very little police presence. Dialing 911 doesn't guarantee police can respond quickly.

The kid was up to no good at all...the father shot him because the kid was COMING AT HIM WITH A SHINY OBJECT! The father has a right to protect himself...that is terrible it ended up being his own son, however...why does everyone focus on the father, the good citizen only protecting himself and others with the gun and not the kid who was up to no good and was trying to attack the father? The father only shot to protect himself...not because he went all crazy and started shooting. So any anti-gun people need to shut up...if this kid wasnt shot he couldve killed or harmed an innocent person...the kid is obviously not innocent.

"All in all it's a tragedy," state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said...."

Yes, a very-preventable tragedy in fact, as a 99% chance says that the kid still would have been alive this morning if dad had used a Taser rather than firing into the dark without asking questions first.

Guns that are either melted-down to make trunk lids or which are securely locked-up inside display cases with the firing pins removed don't kill people either.

Who knows what the kid's motive was, but all that we can do is speculate about it now, as another luckless kid gets blown away within a 100 feet of his own house by another late-night wannabe Rambo with a gun before anyone bothered to ask in a reasonable manner what the motive was.

Isn't Fairfield a pretty-secure low crime rate town? It is certainly not the Wild, Wild, West, filled with roaming desperate outlaws, nor anywhere near the inner-city either.

How many more preventable tragedies is it going to take before America moves away from late-night handguns and out-of-control fear of crime, that has been whipped into a frenzy by the media and quite likely by the gun lobby too, toward much less-lethal personal protection technology?

This kid makes over 1000 such highly-preventable tragedies just this year! This fascination with seeing what percentage of gun owners can handle handguns responsibly has recklessly killed nearly 1 million of us in my lifetime, all so that our weapons manufacturers can continue profiting off of selling a dangerous product that humans are incapable of using in a responsible manner?

Just remember this fact: In all of Europe, without legal handguns, the violent crime rate is 1/8th of what it is here, and the #1 method of murder is by a knife, at a rate 1/6th of what our handgun murder rate is. Just think of how many less prison beds that involves at an annual cost of $50K and an annual cost increase rate of 5%?

Do you have any municipal repair items in your neighborhood that aren't getting fixed? If so, you can partially blame it on legal handguns and on gun manufacturers profits, which have created a great need for prison beds, every one of which runs $50K per year plus another $5K in lost tax revenue too.

Yes, guns kill people, all too often it turns out, and they also bleed society dry in other ways too.

Another victim of the archaic and misguided Second Amendment which should have been repealed a century ago. The Second Amendment is worse than Prohibition, which was repealed as an outdated and bad Amendment, just as the Second Amendment is.

Kid sneeking around a house in black with a gun and a mask on weird, doesn't matter who's house, I would have beat him with a baseball bat if that's all I had and I could have got behind him. He would have been a dead person! That being said, why didn't they just call the police in the first place???? I would not go outside I would stay inside until the police show up, if he came inside than we have a different story. I'm not brave!!

Old Timer,

This happened in "New" Fairfield. There is quite a difference between the two towns. New Fairfield is a bit more rural and not as, how shall I say, yuppy-ish as Fairfield.

Sadly, if lethal force weren't used, this kid would still be alive.

That's it - blame the defender.

How about - if the kid hadn't been prowling around at 1 a.m. by the neighbour's (aunt's) house with a mask and advancing on the armed defender.

How about - if the kid had pulled his mask off and said "hey dad, Aunt Jane, it's me - Joey."

Hasn't anybody noticed that NBCSnooze has purposefully omitted identifying the "shiny weapon" in his hand? People should take notice that this is just another article in the continued anti-gun agenda of NBCNews. They pointed out that it was a shiny weapon and not just a shiny object. That should clue people in that this was a self-defense scenario - despite the defender/attacker relationship. NBCSnooze is counting on the pity factor impacting their slanted presentation of news.

I'm not suggesting that there shouldn't be some feeling of regret/remorse on the father's part but there is more to the story than being presented by NBCNews.

The father more than likely prevented a horrible attack the kid was going to do...I mean, I don't see good coming from someone in the middle of the night wearing a ski mask and black clothing and if you confront them first and they attack back with a shiny object...yeahhh, I'd shoot him too.

I wonder if that Dad had ever warned his son with Cosby's line...

sweetcancer...... just ignore these people. All these people giving you a hard time over reading comprehension skills and trying to correct you and the many others who had the relationship wrong are just fools. They aren't even "correcting" anyone with the right relationship. Some of the ones offering up the corrections need to go back and re-figure things themselves before they tell someone else how wrong they were.

Ken Trout, what an idiot hoping someone has brain cancer. People like you are whats wrong in this world.

Tommy Lee - Actually, technically speaking it's correct that if you own a gun, you are at least 100 percent more likely that weapon will shoot a family member, friend, or neighbor than if you don't. Because if you don't own a gun, the statistic is 0 percent.

Now, the full truth is that the vast majority of gun owners never end up shooting any other human being with their weapon, and their weapons are never used to accidentally kill or injure someone by someone else (child "playing" with the gun, etc...).

However, it is undeniable that any firearm, legal or not, is more likely to be used against someone you know than a random burglar. Basically it's: Safe gun ownership >>>>>> Your Firearm(s) hurt/kill someone you know > You saved your family from a random criminal.

I believe in the right of responsible, sane, law-abiding Americans to own guns of whatever type they choose to purchase. But this notion that "gun control" automatically means "the gubb'mint's gonna take away our guns!" needs to go away. You can put better precautions in place (primarily in the form of more rigorous screening processes) without infringing on anyone that falls into the above category owning as many guns of whatever type they want. Even if it means waiting a couple days or even weeks for the checks to go through.

Yes, that includes "assault" weapons, because a sane, responsible, law-abiding American isn't going to be using those assault weapons on me or his fellow citizens, so what does it matter? I may personally not see any need for people to own fully automatic or military-grade weapons outside of collectors, but if folks disagree with me on that score, more power to 'em. As long as they ain't shooting at me, they can have as many of them as they like as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, a very-preventable tragedy in fact, as a 99% chance says that the kid still would have been alive this morning if dad had used a Taser rather than firing into the dark without asking questions first.

There's also a 100% chance the kid would be alive this morning if he hadn't been out there in the first place. It's a real tragedy that this was his own child but at the same time, he has no business being out there in the middle of the night, in a ski mask, wreaking havoc at his aunt's house.

Looks like another case of KARMA BITES

Another victim of the archaic and misguided Second Amendment which should have been repealed a century ago. The Second Amendment is worse than Prohibition, which was repealed as an outdated and bad Amendment, just as the Second Amendment is.

Actually, the US is currently in violation of the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

By no means can it be said that militia we have is well-regulated because the current laws and regulations we have do not provide security; about 30 Americans are murdered by gun violence every DAY.

This is a clear violation of both the letter and the spirit of the 2nd Amendment, which is supposed to provide for our security, not get us killed in such numbers.

JMacq1 - your statistical math is flawed. 100 times 0 is still 0. You just proved your own argument wrong trying to use false and unproven statistics, so even "technically speaking" that statement is flawed.

To the person who said "i don't see many drive by stabbings" - I also don't see too many drive by shootings done with legally obtained weapons, or weapons that can be owned legally by U.S. citizens. I guess your point was to prove that criminals will still get weapons no matter the laws?

To the person who said "we have gun laws, but we need more" - what more gun laws do we need? The current waiting periods, background checks, weapon limitations are fine. Refer to the paragraph above this one referring to drive by stabbings.

The kid was a peeping tom! The shiny object was most likely a camera. Aunt hears him outside, calls her brother and he came out to find a masked man in her bushes. Click, click, bang, bang.

To buy a weapon you need a permit..to get the permit..you need to go to a safety course for firearms.

In the very first part of the firearm safety course you're told to...***KNOW YOUR TARGET BEFORE YOU SHOOT****!

While I feel bad for the father who must be feeling terrible and will for the rest of his life, this trend of shooting to kill a suspected intruder is dangerous. When there's time to think before pulling the trigger (i.e., when you're going after a perceived intruder rather than the intruder taking you by surprise), I think shooting to incapacitate is a better way to deal with the situation.

@JMACQ1,

Your omitting the factor that the comparision was Most people shoot a family member instead of a burgular when they own a gun for home protection which we both KNOW to be 100% incorrect.

J_P_PatchesPal_1,

Stuff like this still won't change the minds of the "shoot to kill" crowd. If you can't take out a leg - then you ain't the Annie Oakley you claim to be.

Why would someone merely "take out a leg" if they feel their life is in danger? Use of a firearm in self defense is considered lethal force, regardless of where you shoot your attacker. If someone just shoots their attacker in the leg, you can bet the DA would have a field day with that. The shooter would be facing charges of assault with a lethal weapon on the grounds that had they really felt their life was in danger, which would justify lethal force being used, they would have aimed center mass in order to either kill or stop the threat as quickly as possible and ensure their own survival. Any situation in which the use of a firearm is justified is a "shoot to kill" situation.

According to the story, the father confronted an individual in a ski mask and that individual then moved in on him with a weapon. If that doesn't constitute a lethal force situation, I don't know what does. The fact that the individual turned out to be his son should be irrelevant here, but apparently it's not for some. Had it been some random stranger rather than his son, I doubt there would be as many people making comments like yours.

I have a gun...stop and lay on the ground or I'll shoot.

Not that hard to say!

I am truly sorry for this Dad and family. Now, this is why I don't oppose these folks having all the guns they wish...mostly it culls the herd..sort of social engineering/survival of the least fearful.

mike277

I have a gun...stop and lay on the ground or I'll shoot.

Not that hard to say!

How do you know he didn't say that? The story just says the father confronted him. A confrontation can be verbal as well as nonverbal. Just as easily as you can assume nothing was said, it can be assumed that the order was given but unheeded. Regardless though, being approached with the weapon was the only justification the father needed to shoot.

Well Ryan..then his son gets shot..he didn't obey the order or there was no order.

Adam44

Clearly it was his brothers sisters cousin.

No, it was his brother's sister's cousin's nephew's daughter, twice removed.

You're both wrong. It was his father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.

(I couldn't help myself with the Spaceballs reference)

As far as the article goes, it's a bad situation all around. The kid may not have snuck out of the house as some had suggested. The kid may have used the excuse of being out with friends prior to this happening. But the article doesn't have too many details as to what led up to this or the reasons behind the kid's decision to rob his aunt. Not smart on the kid's judgement. I feel horrible for the aunt and the father.

This story leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but I can't help thinking a simple call to 911 would have saved at least one life and probably a lot of grief on the part of the father. Why did dad think confronting an intruder in the dark with a gun was a wise thing to do? As they do in every TV cop show, he should first call for back-up, then go investigate. Having a gun handy sometimes causes one to make bad decisions.

Having a gun handy sometimes causes one to make bad decisions.

So does having a "shiny weapon".

Unfortunately cops are responders rather than protectors.

Why did dad think confronting an intruder in the dark with a gun was a wise thing to do?

It is known as self defense. And yes, self defense does extend to defense of others (his sister).

Something is not adding up here.... if the kid was a bad seed, intent on doing something with that "shiny object", then surely the dad would have had previous indications of his character, especially if that kid was willing to go after his own dad with that object instead of flee. The dad appears to be a standup guy, so we have to trust his word on the surface, but I want to see more investigation.

Either way, it's a tragedy of bizarre proportions.

sweetcancer,

In your defense, "relax". The actual story from when it started very early this morning, gets updated when new information arrives at MSNBC. They do this "Unannounced" which is unfortunate because I see on every story where people go back and forth such as you and a few other people about conflicting stories.

I could swear when I first read this this morning that it did indeed say that the house was the 15 yr olds sister's and I was under that impression for awhile. I reread it a few times and nothing changed.

Then I seen some conflicting posts and I reread it again where it "DID" change saying it was the "Fathers" sister's house. Fugetaboutit and no need to defend yourself. You're a victim of circumstance. Happens to all of us.

Have a nice weekend...

CD

One neighbor, who did not want to be named, said she heard shots in the night.

"We all heard shots and there was a commotion afterwards," she said.

Another neighbor, Lydia Gibbs, said she counted nine shots.

"I thought it was fireworks because nobody would think it was a shooting in this town," she said.

??????????? NINE shots?????????????????

Sorry to be so glib during this tragedy...but was this teacher also a part time NYC cop?

On it
...We can't drive a car without proving our skills

Yeah that bar is set real high.

@Margo - You're a complete moron. The police took over 15 minutes to respond to a report of a person with an RPG rocket launcher on a Phoenix city street in the middle of the day just this last week and that is typical, even when there is imminent death. The police didn't arrive at the theater in Colorado until after the perp there murdered a huge number of people. People die from home invasions in just seconds, often less than 5 seconds from the time they kick in the door. You get out a watch and count how many seconds it is from your front door to your bedroom if you are moving fast. It's all over almost before it starts. Unless the police are standing within 20 feet when you call, YOU ARE DEAD, PERMANENTLY DEAD, FOREVER DEAD, REALLY DEAD DEAD. Yes, she called her brother who was there in seconds instead of some 911 dispatcher who will keep her on the phone for several minutes getting her name, her address, a description of the perp, all the sounds she is hearing and what she is seeing. This is a well known issue with 911 calls. They'll keep you on until the perp kills you, send the police and have an outstanding description of the perp and record of the crime to make an arrest and get a conviction. BUT YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD!!! It's a tragedy caused completely by the son who was an armed burglar who attacked his father.

Margo, you are just plain ignorant (and that's being kind). Call the cops? What good would that have done? You think it could have prevented a crime? Doubtful. You think there is a cop in every neighborhood just waiting around for a call for help? Any idea of how long response times can be? Be a victim, if you choose. I, and others like me, know that it is within our rights to defend ourselves and our family members. We do not have to sit around and hope that police show up in time to stop a crime.

Oh, and calling the police worked out well for the shopkeeper in NYC a few weeks ago. He was shot and killed by the police as he was fleeing from the robbers, while the robbers were left unharmed.

Old Timer-88224

"All in all it's a tragedy," state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said...."

Yes, a very-preventable tragedy in fact, as a 99% chance says that the kid still would have been alive this morning if dad had used a Taser rather than firing into the dark without asking questions first

Taser eh? Shooting someone in the dark with a body of a 15 yr old running toward you..... good luck on the first try since its a one time use. Easier if its day time and the individual is staying still.

And yes, it could have been 99% preventable if that dumb kid tried not to break in while wearing a ski mask then run toward the father with a shiny object.

@ J_P_Patches, Keep watching Hollywood movies. Shoot him in the leg? Even if you hit him in the leg, how is that supposed to stop him from using a gun if he has one? You think people can't pull a trigger with a bullet in them? Get educated, you moron.

When packing the armed person rarely possesses common sense. Unless this person has had a lot of training and is a profession that requires arms,he or she is so filled with adrenalin than they are about ready to burst. Anything even remotely looking like a threat will be shot. Sad day for that family. Did the guy call the cops before he went out to protect his territory?

Found article that said the boy did have a knife. And On It...you said you have to prove your skills to drive a car? When was the last time some too-slow or too-fast, phone talking/texting idiot was too dain-bread to pay attention to their 2 ton killing machine and hit you or a loved one or a friend? Or maybe they were so head-bobbing to their beat that traffic was not an issue. How many times a day do you see someone using 2/3 of the street as their own personal lane? And much more. Sorry On It...didn't mean to pick on you, but you brought up the driving issue. :(

Hey, sweetcancer -- guess what? The original article did, indeed, say the woman next door was the kid's sister. It even said that the boy and HIS SISTER had been adopted by the shooter. Sooooooo, you're not nuts/stupid/ignorant/uneducated/whatever after all. hahaha! People need to realize these articles are updated as soon as more (and accurate) info is received.

BTW, why are some of the above comments being collapsed??? Many are just honest (not obnoxious or mean-spirited) opinions. If something is off-the-wall, nasty, racist, etc. then it should be collapsed, but folks should have the right to state their opinions, even if the rest of us don't agree.

I agree, Leroy. IF the kid was "only up to an innocent prank", why didn't he say something just as innocent like, "Hey Dad, it's me, I'm trying to scare Sis"? There's more to this story.

I agree, I doesn't pass the smell test. Was a warning to "drop it" issued? Most parents KNOW where their kids are at 1 AM. I actualy smell something rotten here on both sides.

Really, Dr. Trocar? "Most parents KNOW where their kids are at 1 AM?" Do "most parents" check their kid's beds every hour at night? Every half hour? What? This kid could not have simply sneaked out after bed? Or been staying with a relative or a hundred other things that you haven't considered? Those of you--even the self-righteous know-it-alls--who of late seem to assume that every action taken by someone under the age of 18 is somehow the fault of the parent had better realize that 1. a 15 year-old is his own person and not someone who can be micro-managed every second of the day and 2. blaming parents for every action taken by their offspring is going to create a climate where EVERY parent may soon be deemed incompetent and a neglectful.

No Dr. Most parents THINK they know where there kid is at 1am. He probably thought his kid was in bed where he was supposed to be.

I doubt there was a "shiny object." This guy shot first and didn't bother to see if the target was a threat and now is making up stories about a shiny object to get himself out of trouble.

The kid was a teenager....teenagers sneak out ALL the time. Trust me...I had two.

Right. Why wouldn't the police report what the mysterious "shiny object" was, if there actually was one?

I wonder if Daddy is trying to save his a-s-s from being charged with the "shiny object" and "lunged at me" report, even though it was his own kid!?

Local newspaper states that:

"When police arrived, they found Jeffrey Giuliano in a T-shirt and shorts, sitting on the grass next to the house. The 15-year-old was lying dead in the driveway with a gunshot wound to the head and a weapon in his hand, police said."

The boy was his adopted son.

Everybody go out and turn on your cell phone!!! It shines it the dark!

Adopted? Nuff said.

Leroy: "What was the "shiny object" that the kid supposedly had in his hand? What happened to it, did it vaporize?"

An Arizona Ice Tea?

Lol, of course Max, it was that deadly weapon, ice tea, again! Why didn't I think of that?

Are you psychic? Can you speak to the dead? I'm guessing the answer is no. Stop letting your own suspicious and paranoid behavior cloud reality. There is no way of knowing what his intent was.

Yes he had something in mind ... He wanted to see his aunt naked! Look at the kid. He was fifteen. His Aunt (who may be hot) lives next door alone. He has probably been peeping on her for ages in that outfit and just never got busted before.

Guess dad should have gotten him a subscription to Playboy instead of Guns n' Ammo.

Agreed RUJAFO, most likely explanation. Sad ending though :(

I prefer not to judge the father after my now 29-year old son recently told me that he used to unscrew the automatic flood light in the back of the house during the day and then use the tree outside his 2nd story window to sneak out at night after we had gone to bed when he was a teenager. You can't ALWAYS know where they are.

Yeah, I was a pretty good Houdini at that age too.

Not to make light of the situation but when he told me that, I just gave him the standard parent wish - I hope you have one just like you. LOL

Homesick, are you sure you know where your kids are in the midde of the night? My parents thought they did too. They were wrong.

You're full of yourself Homesick, your kids pulled the wool over your eyes and you ate it right up. I was a straight A scholarship student, but I learned pretty quick how to put pillows in my bed in the shape of a body and just popped out my window. My wife and I know all the tricks and are preparing as our kids are approaching that age. The moment you think what's going on is the moment you are fooled

Yes, and I agree with all of that. My question is, Why not call the police? The police are available 24-hours a day and ready to help. They are trained to help. They have all the tools available to help. Why not call the police?

Why not call the police?

Because the police are minutes away when seconds matter. If someone is breaking into your house, of course you should call the police but unless you live next door to the police station you could be dead and the perp long gone if you wait for the police to arrive.

The guy's sister could have been dead by the time police arrived.

Homesick...what? Did you stay awake all nite outside their bedrooms doors???? Naive parent alert!

The guy's sister *could* have been dead, but now his son is *definitely* dead. All because she was a little afraid of somebody outside and the father decided he just had to shoot this kid. And the kid decided not to identify himself. It's tragic and stupid all around.

Homesick, even good parents some time do not know where their kids are at night especially when the parents need to sleep to wake up and work in the morning. The kid might as well sneaking out through windows ect during the night... I should know because I was a teenager once. Feel bad for the dad.

I was a teenager, too, myself, guys, and I never snuck out of my house during the night, even when I was annoyed at them. There ARE decent kids who don't do stupid stuff like that. Not all teens act on their impulses.... and this kid had a knife, for Pete's sake; we are not talking about a silly prank here.

Hooray for the dorks and nerds who have been raised right by parents who care.

The Hartford Courant stated that the woman is the Fathers sister.The Son probably knew exactly what he was after and where it was located.

He went out and confronted the kid so apparently just turning on the light wasn't enough to scare him. Besides, it was his aunt's house and his dad responding. Why would the kid run? I guess I don't understand why the kid wouldn't just say "Dad, It's me! I was just pulling a prank" or something?

Speculation about why the kid was there will abound. Might never really know. This is a true tradgedy all around.

And to all of you saying this is a case for the government stealing everyone's right to protect themselves because they aren't trained ... 9 innocent bystanders shot by NY cops. So apparently for you, even the trained ones shouldn't have guns.

Boy talk about not being in the real world. How are the police going to be at your door minutes after you call? So you would just stand by and do nothing as someone beat or raped your neighbor? She called her brother knowing he was RIGHT next door and could get there IN TIME to help. He got there IN TIME to help and did what was obvious from the story he should have and help his sister/neighbor.

Johnny Zed

Why did the woman neighbor call the father and not the police?

When seconds count the police are just minutes away.

This is a tragic story (& badly reported, I am still not sure if this woman was the kids sister or aunt!) and as many have said there is a bad odor around this. Surely the kid would know his dad had a gun (and was capable of using it).

As to the shiny object; in a situation like this if the situation had one different player and the dad didn't shoot, this would have been just another armed home invasion, burglary or rape, and probably still with a corpse on the ground, you have a second to make the choice.

If you turn on the lights, then you let the criminals escape to commit murder and mayhem at a future date. Nope....Take them out so that they can not terrorize other good, honest, law abiding citizens.

It's time to stop feeling bad for the criminals and worry more about good people in society.

Phil...the "shooter's sister". Who is the shooter in this case?

Yes, a gun in the home is worth at least two dead family members, so the father's got another member to take out in the next few years. Isn't the NRA so proud of him!!!!

There are alot of women that get scared, like when someone is breaking into their house, and feel safer when a MAN is there to PROTECT them. How many of you have wives, daughters, aunts, mothers, that feel safer because you men are around to protect them? I've had buddies whose wives are scared to stay home alone at night when my buddies have had to work a night shift. Tell me that doesn't happen. I have to guess that since the article says this woman was alone and her brother lived right next door, that her first reaction was to get a MAN, (her brother) over there to help her fast. That does not suprise me. It also does not suprise me that he would run to his sister's aid quickly, since he knows that she is there alone. Taking a gun with him for self protection, at least to me is expected. And the truth be known, a 15 year old boy out at 1am sneaking around a neighborhood, having been a 15 year old that sneaked out a few times myself, is also not a suprise. Unfortunately this whole tragedy is just that a tragedy. One this family will have to live with the rest of their lives.

Really Kenneth?! I mean seriously. What an iditoic comment!

If you go to the original story it clearly states the shiny object was a weapon. They have also updated this story to indicate that the shiny object was a weapon. The kid was dressed in black wearing a ski mask, was armed and lunged at his dad when confronted. Sounds like the kid was up to no good, probably needed drug money or looking for prescription drugs and targeted his aunt's house because he knew where she stored her money or drugs.

Or the shiny object could have been a cell phone? There are a lot of holes in this new story. It needs to have follow up, like find out what the shiny object was. Also it's kinda hard to judge this when more information is needed. Maybe we'll learn the kid was mentally troubled. Or, we'll learn that he was a prankster, doing a prank on his favorite aunt. I don't know, I guess if it was a school night, 1 am is pretty late for a child to be out.

I have a teenaged son and I'm betting this was a prank. Kids don't think through the process of...scare the aunt...she calls dad...dad runs out with a gun...boom. Kids prank first and think later. And if it's not a camera or a cell phone, what is this shiny object? Is this some kind of never-before-seen weapon? The very fact that this weapon has not been named makes its existence suspicious.

A child would never be up to no good.

Police arrested the 16-year-old son of a woman who was found shot dead and stuffed inside a plastic trash bin in the Bronx Wednesday.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/27/14124091-son-arrested-after-moms-body-found-in-bronx-trash-bin?lite

I agree that it is moronic for news reporters to expect the tragic family to give interviews. The guy just shot his son and they are pestering him with phone calls? It always makes me angry to see "the family did not return our message" because you just know that some moron reporters are hounding grieving people!

Actually, being a 'trained person' - if someone approaches you aggressively with what appears to be a weapon.... the use of deadly force is authorized. Especially given that it was a prowler in a ski-mask late at night. A person with a knife approaching within 15 feet of you is considered a lethal threat to one's life - equal to someone pointing a gun at you.

Actually, no amount of training would have been enough to give a person the ability to distinguish a threat in the middle of the night. A police officer would have reacted the same way. 1 AM, subject wearing a ski mask, prowling in the neighborhood, approaches you with a shiny object in his hand... That threat is going down, every single time.

No problem JCA-1829090 just fork over more our your hard earned money in the form of higher taxes so gun training can be added to public schools because EVERYEONE should be armed and ready to do their civic duty of protecting themselves and their neighbors.

Or, he could have fired a warning shot into the air instead of playing Rambo, discovered it was the child he should have known snuck out of his own house and avoided the whole damn thing altogether.

It;s 10pm - do you know where your children are? It's a simple question. Why can so many people not answer it?

Warning shots are not allowed by law. You either shoot at the threat or you don't shoot at all.

Or, he could have fired a warning shot into the air instead of playing Rambo

and shot a random stranger who wasn't involved...that's a really great idea.

Ananya, it was at 1am. And most parents are sleeping at that time. So it would be hard for them to answer that question honestly.

The father confronted someone wearing a black ski mask and black clothing and then fired his gun when the person went at him with a shiny weapon in his hand, police said.

When someone is coming at you with a knife, you don't have tme for a "warning shot." Those extra two seconds mean the difference between life and death. But the father did confront the intruder and only shot after his son lunged at him with a weapon.

Other people have said that the police should have been called. If the teen had behaved the same way toward the police that he did toward his own father he would be dead now anyways. He had a mask on and would be imossible for his father to identify but his father did not. If the kids intention was to kill his dad and his aunt then some disturbed little jerk who would have been a danger to society was removed from it so that he could injure more people . This is all speculation. There is a lot of good things being said about the father but nothing being said about the son. Was it a gang initiation? Was he on drugs? What were his intentions to go into the house dressed like a cat burgler? I feel sorry for both the child and the family. I, like many others believe that people should have the right to protect themselves with deadly force if they need to. Aside from the Colorado movie massacer where more innocent people would have been killed in the crossfire, if an armed robber walked into a seven eleven s/he would be less likely to use it if they knew that others may be armed as well ready to eliminate the disturbed elements in society.

it was his sister next door. just like the other 90 percent on here, in such a hurry to judge you couldnt read the whole article

It was the shooters sister. This happened on her property.

That 'someone else/next door neighbor' was the man's daughter. If my child or grandchild lived next door I wouldn't hesitate to defend them.

Would you?

Pahoo, That someone next door was the man's sister, not his daughter. Maybe you should go back and reread the story before you also start spreading false reports!

Am I reading this wrong? Many people say the article indicates that the home belonged to the shooter's sister? When I read this article, it appears to me that the home belonged to the father's sister which would indicate that the shooter was prowling around outside of his aunt's house. Maybe something valuable inside he was aware of and wanted to steal? Possibly, he didnt recognize that it was his father who he had been discovered by? Or maybe he didnt care that it was his father? I dont find it alarming that a woman would call her brother next door before she called the cops. Especially if he lived right next door. He would be able to respond faster.

@Dave

Or, maybe this poor kid was just messing around with one of his cousins. For all we know, he could have been sneaking back home with his cousin after they both had snuck out to some party or something. Having held up at his cousins for a bit for whatever reason, he was probably trying to sneak over to his own house after they heard his aunt wake up and get on the phone.

It's sad to see shameless people attempt to immediately demonize this poor kid. So what if he was sneaking around in the middle of the night... he was at his aunt/cousin's house and only several feet away from his own home. You all can see the kid's picture in the article...... THAT kid was shot to death by his own father, several feet away from his own home, on his own aunt/cousin's property.... or so the father says.

What everyone should really be asking here is, "why did the father tell the police that his son charged him with a shiny object while wearing a mask, while he had a gun pointed at his son?" That's the part of this that should be cleared up first.

Dave...the father is the shooter. Get it. He shot his kid. So, the shooter's sister would be the boy's aunt. The boy was not the shooter.

The Kid clearly was up to no good. I don't even want to think what he might have had planned for his aunt or her house.

We just had a case happen here where a 23-year-old "boy" and his 19-year-old girlfriend laid in wait for the boy's grandmother to get home. The girl then stabbed her in the neck in an attempt to kill her. Forntuately, the grandmother survived. Exactly why did they do this? The grandmother had some money put away for the boy and he was to in herit the house, but he had to wait until she was actually dead to get anything.

JCA. I agree with your last statement, but not your first. A police officer would have responded with deadly force under the same situation (masked, armed assailant attacking him). The only difference is there is not an officer grieving with guilt feelings for killing a child that made some really stupid mistakes. As the father of a young son, I hope someone is keeping a very close eye on the father. He has to be going through a grief process the rest of us can't even imagine.

A police officer may NOT have reacted similarly BTW. A police officer would have issued a warning to stop and drop anything he may have seen in the person's hand.......If the teenager was "coming toward" his father...............this is more than a fishy story as suggested by other posters.......it may not be true.

The father confronted someone wearing a black ski mask and black clothing and then fired his gun when the person went at him with a shiny weapon in his hand, police said.

The father only shot after his son tried to attack him with a knife, or some other weapon. He didn't sneak up on the guy and shoot him in the back. There was an intruder, the father confronted the intruder, the intruder, rather than running away or going to his knees, lunged at the father with a weapon. Only after he was attacked did the father decide to shoot.

There will be no peace for this father. He will torture himself with guilt, not only for his Son's death, but for what he could have done to prevent it!

Good. He SHOULD spend the rest of his life, every day, thinking about how he killed his son. Because that's exactly what he did.

There is no way for a parent to know where their children are at all time. They may be sneaking out of your house every night while you sleep. Its a residence, not a maximum security prison.

You're a fool, and a lazy one at that.

It is your OBLIGATION to know where your children are 24-7 and anything less is lazy casey anthony-esque excuse making

It may be your obligation; but it doesn't mean that you will be successful in meeting it.

Actually, I dare say, ANY parent who assumes they have tabs on their 15 year old 24-7 is a naive moron.

Exactly. My mom was a nurse who worked a rotating shift and when she was on the night shift I spent plenty of time hanging out with friends until early in the morning. I would pretend to go to bed before she left for work and once she was gone, poof, out I went. I was 15 - 16 years old then, and my father had died years before so there was no one to keep watch over me. I knew that if I got into trouble all hell would break loose. We didn't sneak around homes dressed in black w/masks on, usually just hung out at the local park. At that age kids are very sneaky.

Mike from Oklahoma, blame the father for the sons stupidity. Brilliant.

Ananya, whatever. No matter how high and mighty you think you are and how perfect a parent you erroneously believe yourself to be, you are in for a earth-shattering shock when you find out even you, oh mighty one, don't know where your kids are 24/7. Unless you've low-jacked them, tied them to their beds, or have them on a leash at all time, you have to sleep sometime and they are not always in your visual range. When you sleep, you DON'T know where your kids are. No, not even you unless you've alarmed their rooms, beds or floors, tied them up and/or spend all night staring at them in case they move from where you know them to be. If you do any of these things, then you are a psychopath, get yourself and your children some help. Also, you don't control your kids as much as you think. The tighter you pull their leashes, the more devious a creature you create. I don't doubt, if you have kids, they are either cowed by your over-bearing control and suffer PTSD from it or are accomplished liars. Great job, Mom! Please yes, make MORE screwed up people because you have a superiority complex about your own skills as a parent. From society to you, thanks.

Unless this boy left some sort of journal, no one will ever know what he was thinking or doing. The media can speculate all day long, but unless the boy ever let his thoughts be known (anywhere, or to a close friend...who will probably keep their mouth shut), no one will ever know. Prayers to dad and family and everyone who will need one, during this sad time.

Ananya doesn't have teenagers. Good luck with that Ananya.

@Kat...If you do any of these things, then you are a psychopath, get yourself and your children some help

Laughed out loud at this....because it is so true!!

Kiddo read this also, so I asked her about it. She said 1.) She would not have been running around at 1 a.m. in black clothing with a ski mask on, 2.) she would have had a key to her aunt's house if she were responsible, and 3.) she'd not have run towards a dad with a "shiny object", in such clothing, knowing he'd protect his family (by any means). She also said that unless there was a Home Emergency (fire, gas, etc.), kids wouldn't be out at 1 a.m. without a good reason, unless they were up to no-good. This boy looks innocent enough, but looks can be deceiving. She also said he looks like a Gamer, so maybe he was just playing out a game, in real life, and it went horribly wrong. Media will never give us all of the details, but I figure the dad was found sitting on the grass because he'd pulled off the mask and saw whom he'd killed, and his a$$ hit the ground...hard. That's why I gave up my firearms when I became pregnant, after always having them for half my life. Hubby can't shoot worth a da** and I was too good with them...never wanted anything like this to happen. All of you people against the NRA don't understand Rule number One...never point a gun unless your intent is to kill (not maim). This means if you just maim, the other person may pull out their firearm and shoot to kill...you. NRA is about bearing arms "responsibly"...not about being a gun-freak. And no, I'm not a member, nor ever have been, but I'm not stupid about what organizations stand for, whatever they may be. I just feel very, very sorry for this poor man and everyone who loved this boy...and he is going to never be well again. Because his son was doing whatever. Playing a game...drugs... We'll never know. (And I doubt drugs...doesn't look that way, but who knows?)

Gun control is not the issue here. A cop who showed up on the scene that was approached by a guy in a ski mask with what looks like a weapon is going to shoot every time. When you live in a nice home, especially in rural areas, you are really naive not to want some kind of self defense. Otherwise you are just a victim waiting to happen. Responsible gun ownership can save lives, and if more citizens carried there would be less tragedy. For instance, what if at least one person was carrying a gun during the Batman movie incident? No way that crazy jerk kills that many people because he would have been stopped. As long as there is evil in this world that is willing to kill you or your family members without a second thought, then you have to protect yourself. Let me know when all the criminals take a day off and get back to me. If this story is accurate, then the father did nothing wrong.

Gee Realitychuck, you're right. All citizens should carry fully-loaded weapons to theaters, shopping malls, schools, libraries, the DMV, the office, resaturants, playgrounds, the beach, in fact everywhere 24/7. Who knows where some psycho might go off in a shooting rampage. The best defense against nuts with guns, is more nuts with guns! Why didn't I think of that?

Thank you reality chuck. My sentiments exactly. I cant stand idiots who post comments like that. You phrased way better than I could have. Thank you. You are so on point.

The US Congress is the real tragedy in this case. Scared to take on the NRA. How many more Americans will kill their family members in the next 15-20 years because of weak gun laws in this country????? Most Americans who own guns have NEVER been trained to use them. They couldn't hit a target from 15 feet away.

Guns don't kill people..people with guns do. I've had firearm ability since age 9, but my dad taught me the rights and wrongs of Gun Responsibility. The NRA doesn't think you should be a gun-freak (actually, they really hate people like that)...they try to teach you to responsibility and educate you, considering which firearm you choose. You need another Forum...this is about a terrible tragedy, and we need to focus on this poor family's loss.

Reality: "what if at least one person was carrying a gun during the Batman movie incident?"

SERIOUSLY??? In a dark and smoky theatre? I'll tell you "what if"--there would have been dozens more wounded and killed. Not to mention, the cops would not have been able to tell the "bad guys" from the "good gun guys"--a REAL MASSACRE at that point!

I just don't get why so many people go on and on and on about gun control or new gun laws. There are already so many guns out there, it's way too late for that. Besides, it's not like the criminal element would willingly line up and hand over their guns. Heck, I'm law-abiding citizen and I wouldn't willingly hand mine over either. Forget it.

And if people watch the actual video, the police rep does say the boy was in possession of a weapon. He didn't say shiny object or shiny weapon. He said the boy was in possession of a weapon. So hopefully that clears that up for everybody.

Everyone talks about gun owners not knowing how to handle guns but yet people keep saying "he should have fired a shot in the air". Do you think the bullet will then disappear? It has to come down somewhere and is possible to hit someone. Also it is illegal to fire a weapon in the air in most cities. This could have been a lot different if a 15 year old would not have been out at 1am in a ski mask coming towards his father and not saying anything to him.

IT IS NOT THE JOB OF THE POLICE TO EXCLUSIVLY PROTECT YOU. Stop thinking that lie. You protect yourself first. There is NO way a cop can get to you in time to protect you when you need protection. In the real world those of us who use reason understand this.

Why is he a fool? How do you know how much experience he has with guns? You obviously know nothing about them because warning shots are about the most foolish thing you can do. All he knew was that his sister called him and said someone was outside her house. It's his sister, he was a few feet away... you wouldn't go help your own sister? Why would calling the cops be better? What if it was a killer or armed robber? A few minutes could mean all the difference to save someones life, and cops are not the smartest gun carriers on earth either. There are quite a few that are quite trigger happy and look for reasons to shoot.

Fire a shot in the air? That's a good way to kill or hurt someone who's not even involved. Never took gun safety?

NBC publishes only half the story and some of these people read only half of that..

It was his aunt. READ!

Catjmj? SO he wouldn't peep or be a burglar because it was his aunt huh!

Most people don't PEEP at their own Aunt, unless you are from West Virginia in which case you are more than likely already married to her...and her mother too! LOL

Why are people obsessed with the idea the kid was going to take pix of his AUNT? Who the heck wants pix of their saggy old aunt when the internet is filled with more attractive porn? Does anybody not realize that every teenage boy with a computer or a phone has all the naughty pix he wants?

The kid was more likely going after drugs or money at the aunt's house. I caught one of my relatives trying to steal pain meds from the medicine cabinet at my house more than once. Lots of older folks have different prescriptions around that kids would like to get their hands on.

Very sad story for the family. The father must be heartbroken!

The kid was 15!!! his Aunt was probably in her 30s. We're talking about his Aunt, not his Mom. Ever heard the term MILF!

The kid was adopted. So it was not his aunt by blood. And he was only 15 so his aunt wouldn't bee that old.

Maxxa,

did you realize that inanimate objects...despite their desire and passion for killing aren't likely to have the means to kill anyone?

Really...I promise you...it's a rare gun that I've heard of that got up and killed another person.

Tell ya what...put a sign up in your yard, advising your neighbors you are anti-gun...It'll really improve the statistical likelihood of your home getting invaded...

So...while NO inanimate object (GUNS) will kill another person...those very INANIMATE objects have been proven to act as a deterrent, by simply being there.

So, again...put a sign up saying "I don't support the NRA" and see who comes calling....

Jerry,

That line is so tired. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Please. People with guns kill people and you know it. If the father didn't have a gun, his son would almost certainly still be alive.

You're right about the sign though. It's entirely likely that a convicted felon would see that sign and see an opportunity. Even though he might not legally be allowed to have a gun, he would just get one at a gun show where he can just pay cash, no questions asked. Or just buy it from someone else who did, either way. Which is just the way the NRA wants it. Keep the criminals armed, so that way others feel the need as well, so we can have thousands of tragedies similar to this one every year. Brilliant.

It's not like we don't have other examples to be compared to. Not like we can't see what would happen if common citizens couldn't carry guns. Death rates,as well as gun-related injuries, drop to just a fraction of what we see here in the U.S., whether intentional or accidental. It's just a fact, empirical evidence, revealed statistics.

There is a good deal of money and influence being the NRA. They are in the business of peddling fear and charging up base emotions, and these are the tools to keep things just the way they are.

If the father didn't have a gun, his son would almost certainly still be alive.

And the father would probably be dead. The kid did lunge at his father with a knife, or some other shiny weapon.

Hey I don't get me wrong, I think people should be allowed to own guns but there needs to be control. I also think that a gun would be one of the first things I'd be willing to give up on my list of things that have already been given up not the last.

Someone suggested firing in the air...when faced with a masked intruder who's advancing towards you with an unknown weapon in the dark...fight or flight is probably going to make you use deadly force if you have the means.

It's just a terrible tragedy. The boy had some obvious bad intent to be at his Aunt's back door at one in the morning, wearing all black, a black ski mask and the video stated that he was armed with a weapon. He even advanced on his father. Who knows what was going on....but I believe it was criminal intent on the teenager's part. Could have been drugs, or even burglary. Lately teens have been getting together and burglarizing just for the 'thrill' of it. It's just terrible that his father will probably torture himself for the rest of his life for a split second decision.

IMO it's a moot point. 2 People failed to call the police and chose to be the judge jury and executioner. All too common these days.

By law you are also allowed to protect your family. He stood his ground when the unknown at the time perpetrator rushed at him with a shiny object in hand.

I'm sure he told the "Masked threat" hold on! The police are on the way, please don't lunge at me with that weapon! The only tragdy about this is the criminal turned out to be a relative and often times that is the case. Recent news of a great grandson killing his great grandmother and stealing her car. Just because they're family doesn't mean they can't be criminals. The man did the right thing. The boy paid for making the wrong choice.

Payed with his life.

So did the father. Just saying.

Choose to use a weapon in a fatal manner, pay the consequence.

Thats pretty hard and cold.

Reality is.

I don't think he'll be charged, and is almost certainly in shock. If one knows that all are forgiven and loved from the outset, then maybe some unbearable weight has been lifted by a stroke of unbelievable good fortune to balance such an example of cruel fate. We can stand an awful lot when we have little choice, and sometimes we manage a defiant smile in the face of a crushing horror - and in so doing, banish the greatest part of its power over us.