Boys Attack Cyclist Who Fights Back (Page 4)

This story made me sad...he only killed one of the scumbags.

After reading this entire thread and all the boo hoo's about how sad, I finally see came across a post I 100% agree with.  Well done my friend.

I live only a couple of miles from where this happened. Reading recently beat out Flint, MI for being the poorest city in the US. We have been in the top tiers for violent crime in cities of its size for a while. High rates of unemployment, as well as high drop out rates which make the whole place less attractive to prospective businesses. 

The boy who died was on probation. His JPO had been by his house earlier after his mother called to report he was truant. They found the other two boys at his house and told them to go home (but no authority over them) and put an ankle monitor on him. He then left the house and met up with his buddies where they mugged or attempted to mug two other people in West Reading (maybe a mile or so from where the shooting occurred). 

From the news reports, the gentleman who shot the kids was not, as has been theorized here, an ex-cop or military. Nor was he "Dirty Harry" - the poor guy was very shaken up, not only by the attempted robbery, but by the fact that he had just shot and killed one kid and seriously wounded another. There was no jumping for joy, or pro- or anti-carry. There was just a tragic loss of one life, and three others ruined (the kid who was shot, the kid who will be carrying guilt for being involved in his friend's death, and the man who shot the kids. Not to mention how the probation officers must be feeling.

W/R/T the whole "Castle doctrine", the way the PA law is written, it does count for this situation, where the gentleman could not escape and reasonably feared for his life.

All the chest thumping and cheering is kind of making me sick. 

Gearboy, I think this is the best post in this entire thread. Thank you.

Gearboy, I think this is the best post in this entire thread. Thank you.

I live only a couple of miles from where this happened. Reading recently beat out Flint, MI for being the poorest city in the US. We have been in the top tiers for violent crime in cities of its size for a while. High rates of unemployment, as well as high drop out rates which make the whole place less attractive to prospective businesses. 

The boy who died was on probation. His JPO had been by his house earlier after his mother called to report he was truant. They found the other two boys at his house and told them to go home (but no authority over them) and put an ankle monitor on him. He then left the house and met up with his buddies where they mugged or attempted to mug two other people in West Reading (maybe a mile or so from where the shooting occurred). 

From the news reports, the gentleman who shot the kids was not, as has been theorized here, an ex-cop or military. Nor was he "Dirty Harry" - the poor guy was very shaken up, not only by the attempted robbery, but by the fact that he had just shot and killed one kid and seriously wounded another. There was no jumping for joy, or pro- or anti-carry. There was just a tragic loss of one life, and three others ruined (the kid who was shot, the kid who will be carrying guilt for being involved in his friend's death, and the man who shot the kids. Not to mention how the probation officers must be feeling.

W/R/T the whole "Castle doctrine", the way the PA law is written, it does count for this situation, where the gentleman could not escape and reasonably feared for his life.

All the chest thumping and cheering is kind of making me sick. 

I live only a couple of miles from where this happened. Reading recently beat out Flint, MI for being the poorest city in the US. We have been in the top tiers for violent crime in cities of its size for a while. High rates of unemployment, as well as high drop out rates which make the whole place less attractive to prospective businesses. 

The boy who died was on probation. His JPO had been by his house earlier after his mother called to report he was truant. They found the other two boys at his house and told them to go home (but no authority over them) and put an ankle monitor on him. He then left the house and met up with his buddies where they mugged or attempted to mug two other people in West Reading (maybe a mile or so from where the shooting occurred). 

From the news reports, the gentleman who shot the kids was not, as has been theorized here, an ex-cop or military. Nor was he "Dirty Harry" - the poor guy was very shaken up, not only by the attempted robbery, but by the fact that he had just shot and killed one kid and seriously wounded another. There was no jumping for joy, or pro- or anti-carry. There was just a tragic loss of one life, and three others ruined (the kid who was shot, the kid who will be carrying guilt for being involved in his friend's death, and the man who shot the kids. Not to mention how the probation officers must be feeling.

W/R/T the whole "Castle doctrine", the way the PA law is written, it does count for this situation, where the gentleman could not escape and reasonably feared for his life.

All the chest thumping and cheering is kind of making me sick. 

It's never good to get robbed, or shot at, or to shoot someone.....no matter who that someone is, or how much they may "deserve" it.  I have half a lifetime of experience with all of the above.

There is not a person who posts here who does not value life....not one...no matter how diverse the comments may seem.

I'm sorry a kid got killed.  I'm sorry he never had the direction in life he needed.  I'm glad a man going about his life and minding his own business was able to defend himself.

Any other comment I could or couldn't make would be based on speculation....no matter how much experience I have.

I'm sorry....it IS sad....on a number of levels.  But it is also reality, and life, in our society.  There is nothing to see here.....keep moving.

 but the precedent it sets is the reason USA has so much more violent crime.  

...

Why do you say that this man's life is ruined?   Yes he will have problems dealing with it, but most of us who have been in that situation lead normal, productive lives.    We deal with it.    It does not destroy us.  

If I get to be in my 60's without killing someone, I hope I am not so blase about taking a human life as to say "Eh, sh*t happens. Deal with it", even if I felt I had no other choice. 

This is becoming a debate between two radical overstatements. Do you think there might be some middle ground between "his life is ruined forever, he'd be better off dead" and "whatever, get over it?"

We have no way of knowing what the outcome would have been had the victim not been able to defend himself. A severe beating in real life isn't like on TV, where the only sequela is the hero sporting a bandage or abrasion to make him look rough and masculine for the rest of the episode. Dude could easily have wound up with a closed head injury, brain damage, or be dead right now.

I certainly don't applaud the death of the assailant, or wish for the death of the other two. But they had choices in this, and entered into the situation voluntarily. I'll lament their choices - even lament some of the social factors that contributed to their poor decision making - but I will not lament the fact that their intended victim was able to defend himself. Whatever the sequelae of his self defense, they are likely to be much more recoverable than the sequelae of letting three violent assailants have their way with him.

This is becoming a debate between two radical overstatements. Do you think there might be some middle ground between "his life is ruined forever, he'd be better off dead" and "whatever, get over it?"

We have no way of knowing what the outcome would have been had the victim not been able to defend himself. A severe beating in real life isn't like on TV, where the only sequela is the hero sporting a bandage or abrasion to make him look rough and masculine for the rest of the episode. Dude could easily have wound up with a closed head injury, brain damage, or be dead right now.

I certainly don't applaud the death of the assailant, or wish for the death of the other two. But they had choices in this, and entered into the situation voluntarily. I'll lament their choices - even lament some of the social factors that contributed to their poor decision making - but I will not lament the fact that their intended victim was able to defend himself. Whatever the sequelae of his self defense, they are likely to be much more recoverable than the sequelae of letting three violent assailants have their way with him.

Just FYI, you can only use the term sequela twice in a lifetime.  I hope that was worth it.

I'm sorry a kid got killed.  I'm sorry he never had the direction in life he needed.  I'm glad a man going about his life and minding his own business was able to defend himself.