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JALLEN wrote:I bet he wishes he had had the talk with his son, don't go burglarizing folks' houses or places, messing with stuff that doesn't belong to you, etc. By the time a kid is old enough to go out on his own, somebody needs to make sure that has been covered and understood. That is one of the things fathers are for.

Would the regret be any less if someone else had shot his kid? I hardly think so. It is not much solace, but at least he knows the circumstances, and doesn't have to wonder if his son was murdered and the reality was covered up somehow, as is often claimed.

IDK abot this one. My father never really had to tell me breaking in to someones house was wrong. It kind of goes back to geting your hand slaped at 2 years old for touching stuff that is not yours.
I hope his father can find some peace in his life after this ordeal

cheezit wrote:

JALLEN wrote:I bet he wishes he had had the talk with his son, don't go burglarizing folks' houses or places, messing with stuff that doesn't belong to you, etc. By the time a kid is old enough to go out on his own, somebody needs to make sure that has been covered and understood. That is one of the things fathers are for.

Would the regret be any less if someone else had shot his kid? I hardly think so. It is not much solace, but at least he knows the circumstances, and doesn't have to wonder if his son was murdered and the reality was covered up somehow, as is often claimed.

IDK abot this one. My father never really had to tell me breaking in to someones house was wrong. It kind of goes back to geting your hand slaped at 2 years old for touching stuff that is not yours.
I hope his father can find some peace in his life after this ordeal

Exactly. Somewhere, some how, the kid has to be taught, not just told, that this is wrong, impermissible and dangerous, by somebody, whether it is good ol' Dad, your Grandmother or a Cub Scout Den Mother, whatever.

Every one of these perps who end up dead from a home invasion shoot out should have been told, taught, not to do that.

There are thousands of life lessons you have to make sure your kids understand, not all of them with this tragic a consequence, of course.

You folks missed the whole point of why the story went national. It is because it was a "ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING". Dirty citizens, even nice ones, shouldn't have guns because TRAGIC THINGS HAPPEN. And the Associated Press made sure to put in their version that "authorities were trying to determine whether the gun was registered", as if that changes what happened. Never mind that this was one shooting with a set of really bizarre and unusual circumstances out of the thousands of "regular" shootings by crooks against the law-abiding, or by the law-abiding defending themselves against crooks. Nope, THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE...now, lets ban some guns, who is ready to stand with me and help prevent another tragedy such as this?

Yeah, I'm a cynic when it comes to the press...they ALWAYS show their true colors in terrible circumstances such as this.

Poor Dad, but what could he do? I am betting his son was under the influence of something nasty. So so so sorry, but there is nothing the dad did wrong, plenty the son did wrong. He could be a terrible dad, or he could just have a prodigal son. I have known more than one good family to have a "black sheep."

Later news stories have confirmed the "shiny object" in the son's hand was a knife.

Leave aside the father's grief for having shot his son for a moment. Consider a father's grief that his son would ever come at him with a knife.

Just bad news and a heartbreaker.

Maybe this is one shooting where the news won't be plastered with quotes from family members saying the dead criminal was a good kid who fell in with the wrong crowd, was turning his life around, and would never hurt anyone.

Oldgringo wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Keith B wrote:

SRH78 wrote:According to yahoo, the neighbor whose home was being broken into and called for help was the father's sister.

What a mess.

Wondering what a toxicology test will show in the autopsy?

This. The whole thing is so awful it is hard to try and understand in any other context, isn't it?

Will the toxicologist's report reveal adolescent stupidity? I feel for the father/mother; otoh, I kinda' side with SRH78 above.

There may have been more than stupidity involved.

Consider what he had been planning to do with the knife and while masked inside the occupied house he was attempting to enter.

I'm not buying "innocent prank leads to tragedy" in this one. This kid was up to serious no good.

The whole thing is so bizarre. At 15 years old, the kid was in that phase where they will do bizarre things. They are not thinking of consequences. It's also a time when mental illness can develop. His intentions we may never know. I wonder if he did not recognize the man confronting him in the dark was his father. If no words were spoken? I am praying for the family. The poor dad will probably ask himself a million "what if" questions for the rest of his life and the aunt too. If the toxicology comes back with something, that would explain it somewhat at least. I wonder if the tox screen is conclusive, though? I was just reading this week that synthetic drugs are finding increasing popularity among teens now because they are changed so often they do not show up on tests. Unfortunately, they are also more difficult to predict behavior effects or lethal doses.

Parenting failure 101. Lesson #91.

Beiruty wrote:Parenting failure 101. Lesson #91.

Based on what? Were your parents good parents? When you did something wrong or stupid, was it their poor parenting to blame or your poor judgement?
I did some really stupid things as a teenager and it's only by the grace of God that none of them bit me on the butt. but, they were all my doings and had nothing to do with my parents. In fact, I have no doubt that some all night Intercessory prayer time on the part of my parents saved me more than once.

jmra wrote:

Beiruty wrote:Parenting failure 101. Lesson #91.

Based on what? Were your parents good parents? When you did something wrong or stupid, was it their poor parenting to blame or your poor judgement?
I did some really stupid things as a teenager and it's only by the grace of God that none of them bit me on the butt. but, they were all my doings and had nothing to do with my parents. In fact, I have no doubt that some all night Intercessory prayer time on the part of my parents saved me more than once.

My Parents were like Hawks, and in Beirut, Lebanon through the years of my teens, my dad showed me "the sparkling lights" when I showed interest in one of the militias of that days. Like dad, I am too a hawk over my kids.
If said son was on drugs and burglarizing his Aunt's house, that is not lapse of judgment. That is evilness and/or de-atachment from reality.

Beiruty wrote:If said son was on drugs and burglarizing his Aunt's house, that is not lapse of judgment. That is evilness and/or de-atachment from reality.

Good parenting improves the odds, of that there is no doubt.

However, as jmra mentions, there are kids raised in good homes that do either stupid things, or even evil things. There are kids also that are raised in horrific circumstances that become good people.

There are people imprisoned for murder who had horribly abusive parents, but there are also people who had horribly abusive parents and never committed a crime. There are people who had fabulous parents who never committed a crime, but there are also people who had fabulous parents who are on death row for murder.

Parenting is but one factor --ultimately the individual is accountable for their own actions.

Jumping Frog wrote:
"Parenting is but one factor --ultimately the individual is accountable for their own actions."

Excaliber wrote:

Oldgringo wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

Keith B wrote:

SRH78 wrote:According to yahoo, the neighbor whose home was being broken into and called for help was the father's sister.

What a mess.

Wondering what a toxicology test will show in the autopsy?

This. The whole thing is so awful it is hard to try and understand in any other context, isn't it?

Will the toxicologist's report reveal adolescent stupidity? I feel for the father/mother; otoh, I kinda' side with SRH78 above.

There may have been more than stupidity involved.

Consider what he had been planning to do with the knife and while masked inside the occupied house he was attempting to enter.

I'm not buying "innocent prank leads to tragedy" in this one. This kid was up to serious no good.

Does anyone remember Lyle and Erik Menendez? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_and_Erik_Menendez" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of the articles I read re: this stated that this boy had been adopted "a few years ago". If so this changes all the dynamics.

Kids core values are set by the age of 8 and there is not much that can be done to change them, and due to late life adoption there wouldn't be as strong a familial bond.

I have found the most "knowledgeable experts" on child rearing are people who have no children or their children have not yet seen their 21rst bday.