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Benjamin K. Bishop is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of his mother, Imari Shibata, and her boyfriend, Kelley Allen, both 49, at the mother's home in Oldsmar.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Bishop shot the pair multiple times early Sunday morning following a series of arguments with his mother.
According to a sheriff’s press release:
Bishop advised detectives that on Saturday, October 27th, his mother told him to get a job, take his medicine for his mental health issues, and to start paying rent. Bishop said he also had a discussion with Allen over the laundry. Saturday night, Bishop said he was angry and retrieved the shotgun after the arguments, loaded the weapon and shot his mother and Allen in their bedroom. He told detectives he then reloaded the shotgun and shot them again.
Bishop called 911 to report the shootings and surrendered to deputies at his front door, sheriff’s officials said.
Detectives said a friend bought the shotgun for Bishop a couple of weeks ago at a local shop for $279. Bishop pawned a number of electronic items to get money to buy it, saying he needed the weapon for protection from gang members, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Bishop has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, the sheriff said. He requires medication for his mental health issues and reportedly had not always taken his medication as required, according to investigators.
The sheriff said Bishop was still on probation for a 2011 domestic battery incident in which he allegedly struck his mother and tried to strangle her.
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Previously tried to kill his mother, No problems here. Turn him loose as long as he promises not to do it again.
What ever happened to insane asylums?
Most large scale in-patient mental health facilities were closed down in the 80's due to either losing their funding or because of abuse of patients. What is still open is either too expensive for the average person or there is no space and there are long wait lists.
The NRA extends it condolences and wishes to cover the funeral and burial expenses....
Florida again ? Stand your ground, face eating zombie, fix a flat body shaping. They need to change their nickname from the Sun shine State, to the Sane shied state !
I cal bs on an insanity plea. What you have is a lazy kid that doesnt seem to think he should work or contribute financially or physically for his keep. Another entitled youth only this one's probably been on meds since he started school. He knew enough what was expected of him at 18 yrs old and knew he didnt want to bothered. Now we hav to feed & house this puke for the rest of his life? Automatic confessions should bring automatic death. Spare me the trial.
Schizophrenia is not the same as having something like ADHD.
And schizophrenia rarely manifests in childhood. When it does, it is a particularly devastating form. It is a psychotic disorder with definite biologic indicators. It is also a thought disorder which prevents the individual from being in touch with reality, and removes ability to reason and plan.
The real tragedy is, thanks to Reagan's policies, help for those suffering from a debilitating illness such as schizophrenia is limited. And that, unfortunately, results in other tragedies occurring as a result.
Judging from some of the comments on this vine, there are those who are suffering from far less debilitating psychiatric illnesses than schozphrenia who are also either unable to get care, or refuse to take their meds as prescribed.
This agruement is fruitless as pro gun gun will never admit although you can kill with almost any thing, one less gun in society simply means one can't kill with that one less gun. So I say Control the ammo for guns and make the use of unlicensed ammo a crime punishable by prison
There are an estimated 200-300 Million guns in the USA according to the FBI. There are about 700 firearm deaths per year by legally owned and operated firearms. That is of course 700 horrible tragedies, but it also represents about the same number of deaths as falls from bicycles without helmets, swimming pool drowning or ATV accidents - and means that about 99.9997% of the guns are not involved in legally owned and operated deaths.
The rest of the gun deaths arise from illegally owned or illegally operated guns - which means that the existing laws and restrictions against these crimes are already ineffective, and it means that new restrictions (registration, licensing, etc) will only affect the legal gun ownership and use, and won't affect the illegal ownership or usage - those people who are already not following the existing laws.
So, unless you are suggesting the house by house search and seizure of all guns from everyone, I honestly feel that additional laws will affect the hunters, sports shooters, farmers, target shooters, firearms historians and collectors - and won't affect the criminals, which is where the problem is.
Nicely done Todd
So you are saying that we should all just continue to put up with the biweekly mass shootings because there is nothing we can do about it?
Wrong! Abolish the NRA and then start rounding up all of the firearms. There are not that many hunters target shooters and collectors around to justify the millions of firearms in our society and the carnage from them that occurs on a very regular basis.
It is time that we all came to our senses and realize that all of the millions of firearms and the devastation they inflict on our communities just cannot go on any longer.
Dancer Tiffy, read the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Read my post again,Todd.Ban the ammo, keep your precious gun.
If a person is determined to kill, they will always find a way to do it. If he didn't have a gun, he would have used another weapon like a knife. Guns have nothing to do with deranged people carrying out their deeds. The government can't outlaw every knife, shovel, axe, etc. Some people are either mentally ill or just plain evil and these are the people who will continue to kill. It has been going on since the beginning of times and it will never end.
People kill... so do guns.
this is why you don't date women with kids...
The moral of the story is "Americans need more guns".
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri
I don't know about the kid doing it, sounds like a mob hit, and a hitman impersonating the local sheriff.
Although I see Standupjokeoff's point I think we need to rethink the institutionalization of people with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia.
Guns and unstable people don't mix.......go USA!
People need to research their history. The deinstitutionalization of mental health facilites started in the 1960's and 1970's. Regan only cut federal funding and remanded the issue back to states. Lovely Democrat Mayor Emanuel is shutting down half of Chicago's mental clinics right now.
What really needs to be changed is the involuntary commitment policy. Extreme mental issues that are diagnosed and are treated with advanced medications should result in involuntary commitment when the person fails to take the prescribed meds.
Yeah, if he doesn't want to take his meds which is partially understable then he needs involuntary commitment. He either understands how involuntary commitment affects his life, and that motivates him to take his meds or he gets committed. It's better than him running around with loaded weapons that his considerate and generous friends buy him when he is running around off his meds.
Beth,
Please do explain how you get around the issue of autonomy when you force someone to take meds or be institutionalized if they do not take their meds? The vast majority of people diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses pose no danger to anyone. When an individual with a psychiatric illness poses a danger to themselves or others, probate procedures are in place to insure that they are involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility. Unfortunately, there are far too few beds available, and therefore, even though there may be an indication of need for hospitalization, finding a bed for that patient is often impossible.
Would you also suggest that patients diagnosed with cancer be forced to take chemotherapy against their will or risk institutionalization or jail for refusing? You cannot force anyone to take medication for an illness if they choose not to without a serious breach of autonomy. Nor can you use medication as a form of social control.
what a nice friend, to buy a shot gun for a nut job, he is very very stupid or evil
He must really not have wanted to get a job or do the laundry as he chose life imprisonment over normal living.
Asking your schizophrenic, 18 year old son to pay rent seems a bit harsh. Most 18 year old's still live at home with their parents, if they're not at school, and most parents aren't heartless enough to ask that they pay rent. Most 18 year old's also don't have a serious mental health issue like schizophrenia to deal with.
There is "tough love" and there is cruelty. I don't see this being the former. It seems like the mother wanted to be rid of him.
I have a few old issues of Playboy but this kid has mental health problems.
What kind of friend wouldn't know he had a problem? What kind of friend would let you pawn stuff to by a gun knowing he had a mental problem? I guess a mentally handicapped friend! Does he have a name?
That's the right on man. You said it all.
what was with the mom, not too many schizophrenics can hold down a job. and why wasn't she making sure he took his meds? and why wasn't he on ssi or something? that kid was failed on so many levels it's unreal.
Agreed.
A friend....
That was friendly of him. To buy a firearm for a person with a history of mental disorders.
Our society continues to spew out more examples of this insanity among our youth at an alarming rate
Thank you NRA for all of your tireless efforts in making sure that all Americans have maximum firepower.
NRA if not for you so much of this carnage just would not be possible. thank you.
Oh----and Republicans are gun-Happy, actually obsessive about guns. I'm voting for Obama.
Yeah, now we need the ATF to authorize all weapon sales.
To qualify you must have no:
1. Violent felonies
2. Involuntary committments.
3. etc.
Each firearm sale needs to be screened by an ATF agent. Maybe a pysch eval for each firearm sale.
And persons who buy firearms for someone to go around this get a felony.
Goldfish- good ideas, however, all this can be circumvented by people buying trading guns off the radar. Guns can be purchased on the streets as well as ammo & anything else related.
Bill Mayer on HBO
New rules
1. Person with a history of mental disorders can buy their own firearms, if they can't qualify, then they don't get to own one.
"There are an estimated 200-300 Million guns in the USA according to the FBI. There are about 700 firearm deaths per year by legally owned and operated firearms. That is of course 700 horrible tragedies, but it also represents about the same number of deaths as falls from bicycles without helmets, swimming pool drowning or ATV accidents - and means that about 99.9997% of the guns are not involved in legally owned and operated deaths.
The rest of the gun deaths arise from illegally owned or illegally operated guns - which means that the existing laws and restrictions against these crimes are already ineffective, and it means that new restrictions (registration, licensing, etc) will only affect the legal gun ownership and use, and won't affect the illegal ownership or usage - those people who are already not following the existing laws".
Hey Todd. Those are your thoughts above. I doubt your statistic of 700 deaths per year is accurate, but whatever it is, would you care to present your rationalization to the sons, daughters, parents, sisters brothers, extended family, friends and coworkers of those killed in person? That will surely remove their grief and restore their lives as they were.
You also distinguish and do gun deaths from illegally owned and operated guns as it they came from the "Guns For Illegal Owners and Operators" section of WallMart.
As you well now as America has become flooded with guns, they are regularly stolen from legally registered users. The gun that kills you or or children, parents, friends across the country may well be your own. Gun tragedies are becoming a daily occurrence. Is this really how you want to live in this great country of ours? I have no doubt your perspective will change if someone you love becomes victim. PErhaps it won't have to take that.
Someone here is worried about insulting people with mental health issues? Forget that @!$%#. So many crimes have been committed by these crasy people...the last one the batman killer or the nut case in Inglewood? NO matter, you can;t trust these peopel to take their meds - just execute these @!$%#ers before they can do harm and hold their families responsilbe for not taking care of them.
The Nazis had the same thought...
Sounds like mmm1379 won't take his meds, either. His spell-checker is obviously turned off, but that is what "crasy poepel" do.
I am far less concerned about people who have a history of mental disorders than I am with stupid people who can't be treated. Just saying.
The Friend who bought the gun for him is just as Guilty as if he had pulled the Trigger, the Friend should be prosecuted to the full extent the Law allows. What a Dumb Dumb Dog.
Outside are dogs....
I think you pinned the tail on the donkey as to why this guy bought this firearm right here.
That is one tragically sad story.