Shooting at wasp nest, neighbor kills sleeping boy

associated press ^ | June 1, 2005

[Dog Gone]

A 5-year-old Pasadena boy was killed while sleeping in his bedroom today when a bullet fired by a neighbor to break up a wasp's nest strayed and struck the boy.

Pasadena police spokesman Sgt. J.M. Baird said Romeo Gonzalez, 18, was in his second-floor apartment at 3637 Shaver shortly after midnight when he decided to shoot at a wasp's nest hanging from a nearby tree.

Romeo loaded a 12-gauge shotgun and fired at the wasp's nest. The shotgun pellet Gonzalez fired entered a first-floor bedroom where David Marban was sleeping, killing the boy, Baird said.

Gonzalez is charged with deadly conduct and is being held in the Harris County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond, Baird said.

[Dog Gone]

None of this makes sense.

[VRWCmember]

Pasadena, CA or Pasadena, TX?

[primeval patriot]

Harris County should be Houston, TX.

Deadly conduct is a felony in Texas.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Harris County is Texas, I believe.

[umgud]

Hold ma reefer.......

[Brilliant]

Too late for this idiot to take a gun safety course.

[Dog Gone]

I put it in the Texas topic when I posted it. Essentially, this is southeast Houston.

[azhenfud]

Who in their right mind takes a scattergun to a wasp nest in a neighborhood?

[HairOfTheDog]

It doesn't make any sense.

Shooting at a wasp nest with a shotgun doesn't make sense.

That one pellet might enter a bedroom still carrying enough velocity to kill someone doesn't make sense, unless the nest was really very close to the window and he was using buckshot.

Who fires a shotgun at or towards an apartment building? Was he trying to shoot it out of the rafters from the ground?

[Hegemony Cricket]

Be sure of your target and beyond!

[KittyKares]

He gets inspired shortly after midnight when it is harder to see?

If he thought the wasps were annoying; wait til he enounters "Bubba" in jail.

[Dog Gone]

That's a good question, of course. Another question is why the story refers to both a bullet and a pellet. Was it a slug, or was it the more common shot shell?

And if it was a shot shell, how was it able to penetrate an adjacent building and actually kill someone?

[Bahbah]

There was a wasp in my bedroom when I got home last night. I finished it off with a broom.

[tfecw]

I think it doesn't make sense because you are under estimating how stupid people can be ;)

As for the last bit, I think the "shooter" was in his apt, 2nd floor. He could have been aiming down. I dunno though.

[faq]

It sounds like he was shooting down at the nest from the second floor. The boy was on the first floor. And none of this makes sense. Almost had to have gone through a window. This is not the type of accident a normal person could have, the shooter has to be a little slow or not right in the head.

[MEG33]

Tragic story..My condolences to the family..The shooter's actions leave me speechless.

[tfecw]

actually now that i've clicked on the link the site it takes you to says the boy is alive. The pellet hit him in the thigh.

"The boy's in the hospital but reportedly doing well"

[PeterPrinciple]

"Who fires a shotgun at or towards an apartment building? Was he trying to shoot it out of the rafters from the ground?"

In the movies and cartoons it's not a problem

[HairOfTheDog]

You're right.... half of the details I needed were right in the article.

Of course, the other detail... 'what kind of a person does something this stupid?' - that question is still pending ;~\

[Smokin' Joe]

That one pellet might enter a bedroom still carrying enough velocity to kill someone doesn't make sense, unless the nest was really very close to the window and he was using buckshot.

The article said "the pellet". Rifled slug?