Police say 5-year-old stabbed by 8-year-old brother

Mlive - AP ^ | 10-13-03

[Dan from Michigan]

Police say 5-year-old stabbed by 8-year-old brother

The Associated Press
10/13/2003, 10:41 a.m. ET

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A 5-year-old boy was stabbed in the back with a steak knife by his 8-year-old brother while they were fighting over toys, police said Monday.

Officers were called at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday to the boys' home, where the 5-year-old was found with a knife in his back, said police Capt. Juli Liebler.

The boy was taken to a local hospital, where doctors said the knife had pierced the boy's lungs, The State News reported. He was listed Monday in stable but critical condition, Liebler said.

The 8-year-old, who was left in the custody of his family, got the knife from the kitchen, Liebler said.

Police planned to send a report to the Ingham County prosecutor's office, which was closed Monday for Columbus Day, to determine whether charges should be brought, Liebler said.

[Spruce]

100 bucks says these kids are "babysat" by the television.

[Support Free Republic]

Got a minute?

I'd really like you to rub my ears,
or help out FR.

[CSM]

c'mon, they probably play video games too!

[Keith]

These kinds of things wouldn't happen if we had stricter gun control laws...oh...wait a minute...






...never mind.

[OXENinFLA]

The 8-year-old, who was left in the custody of his family, got the knife from the kitchen.

Was this before or durring the altercation?

[zlala]

I'll admit to chasing my sister through the house while I had a knife (Mom wasn't home at the time). I was 14ish and I was stupid & mad. Sometimes kids do stupid things for stupid reasons because they are young and stupid. (Although I was old enough to know waaaay better...I was stupid).

My mom was a stay-at-home-mom; I was raised in a conservative, religious middle-class family; where my dad was a career AF pilot. Some times the stupid gets in the way of all the good stuff.

[Pest]

My brother stabbed me in the face (through my bottom lip) with a filet knife when I was about 12 and he was about 9. We were playing "knife fight" feinting jabs at one another. I know, real smart, but we were kids.

No charges were filed. I didn't even go to the hospital.

[asformeandformyhouse]

Thankfully the 8 year old wasn't being home-schooled. We'd never hear the end of that one.

[Feiny]

My little brother threw a cap gun at me and I had to go get stitiches in my forehead. A few days later...I got him back by launching the plastic swing at him as he approached the playset. As luck would have it...he required stitches in the same location. The hospital staff must have thought my mother was horrible....she wasn't....but we were very naughty!

[pgyanke]

Thankfully the 8 year old wasn't being home-schooled.

Give them time... they haven't gotten to that angle yet...

[leadpencil1]

I used to chase my younger brother (and get chased by my older brother) around with a BB gun (Crossman 760). I used to just start counting to 5 and watch him start running. We even did it in the house at times. Always aimed below the waist though.

(That would be a good thread. "Dumbest thing I ever did"...)

[Egon]

DAMNED STEAK KNIVES! They were probably unregistered.

There is absolutely NO REASON civilized people need steak knives. Any thing you should be cutting is cuttable (is that a word?) with a butter knife...actually margarine-- butter exploits cows. Actually, steak does too... LONG LIVE THE CELERY KNIFE!

Oh, damn.

[jocon307]

"100 bucks says these kids are "babysat" by the television."

We were babysat by the TV too, and we fought like hellions, but there were no stabbing incidents. Other than the time my very even-tempered dad got so annoyed with us he stabbed himself in the hand with a pencil. It was pretty bad, he got blood poisoning (he was also a diabetic) and was in the hospital for quite a few days. I was the oldest, so I felt pretty guilty, but I'm not sure my brothers were even aware of what all was going on.

I'll have to ask the one brother who is still with us if he remembers. He is the youngest and would have been pretty little at the time of this incident, but he's got a great memory, so I'll see.

This could be an unfortunate incident, or a sign of bigger trouble to come. Good luck to these folks, and I hope the little guy recovers well & quickly.

[SeattleTiger]

Prayers for both the kiddos -- and the entire family. I hope everything turns out okay.

[FierceDraka]

My 4-year old cousin threw a butter knife at me when I was 5 because we were fighting over the blue Play-Do. Gouged me pretty good, about 1 1/2 inches above my right eye. Still have the scar, too.

Nowadays, special interest groups would be howling for my cousin to be thrown in juvie, and for my aunt to be brought up on neglect charges. (She was in the kitchen making breakfast for us kids)

My cousin ended up doing two prison terms for stupid crap anyway, but that's beside the point.

[kinghorse]

That'll learn em.

[kinghorse]

and the ever useful:

If I had a nickel for every time my brother buried a steak knife in my back...

[netmilsmom]

Love that addition to the tagline!

[Graybeard58]

(That would be a good thread. "Dumbest thing I ever did"...)


...I have two sons who are 14 months apart in age. Age 30 and 29 now. There was a time in their lives when I didn't think it would be possible that they would both live to adulthood. I think they invented the term, "Fighting like cats and dogs" (They actually like each other nowadays)