Posted on 08/25/2008 4:40:54 AM PDT by tlb
GARY, Ind. (Post-Tribune) ― A 14-year-old Tolleston boy died Wednesday from a gunshot wound to his head despite efforts by his cousin to intervene in the shooting.
Vernon Elkins, of the 1700 block of Arthur Street, was pronounced dead at The Methodist Hospitals in Gary about two hours after he shot himself with a .38-caliber revolver found in the alley near his home, police said.
The teen had been shopping with his family, but was unable to get the shoes he wanted for school because the store didn't have them in his size, Detective Cpl. Arturo Azcona said.
When he returned home, he went downstairs to his cousin's bedroom in the basement and put the gun to his head, Azcona said.
About 2:30 p.m., Vernon's 17-year-old cousin entered his bedroom and saw his younger cousin with the weapon.
Azcona said the older teen tried to grab the gun away, but the weapon discharged.
Police and medics arrived within minutes and Vernon was rushed to the hospital, where he died.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs2chicago.com ...
It occurs to me that Vernon’s cousin might have shot him, rather than being the sole witness.
However, there’s probably physical evidence supporting the cousin’s story.
shoe the kid some respect.
My first thought too.
Teen shoeicide. Very sad.
What is wrong with you people, is it me, or am I the only one who thought this was a sad story? The poor child, how awful his life must have been for a pair of shoes to push him over the edge. There is a lot of pain here. No shoes ever caused anyone to kill themselves. It was the straw that broke the camels back. I wonder what his home life was like?
Just a straight-laced lad who didn't size up the situation.
Sir,
I find nothing humorous in the loss of this young man’s life.
That being said, this story provides more leverage to the need for school uniforms throughout the country.
We are teaching our kids that a stinking pair of fancy shoes are more important than one’s life. Good grief!
You're right.
We should tread lightly.
Just a hunch. If he really did kill himself over shoes, just maybe there were some other issues in his life.
Fourteen is a horrible age, all hormones, no experience, no perspective.
he was probably living on a shoestring.
I wonder what race this kid was, it didn’t say, but I know one thing, the dirty little secret is that many poor black families are very abusive towards their children. It’s vile the way they treat their children. But I guess it’s ok, it’s their “culture.”
you figure brown shirts with those uniforms?
I wonder how many other Freepers saw the above phrase and immediately thought "Obama"?
Yo, like geez, dude, the store would have gotten another shipment of shoes by next week or just call around to other stores for the right size. At least he didn’t shoot someone else for their shoes.
I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a boy who had no head.
But seriously...there’s no pair of shoes worth killing yourself over.
No one ever taught this young man that shoes are more valuable than life. He made his own decision. And the gun was found in the alley - so says the cousin. And not everyone named Vernon or from Gary is black or minority.
The store was clearly a heel for not having the shoe in Vernon’s size.
just got privately yelled at - guess I will have to toe the line.
Thank you, I thought the same thing!
Thanks for posting.
Obvioulsy, we need the gubmint to intervene. Nationalized footwear now!
Carolyn
You heel!
Finally found a 'gun in the street' that needed regulation...
story is sad, and positively REEKS in more ways than one...
One size for all!! That way this sort of thing will never happen again.
Yes, of course it’s sad, whether it’s accurate as presented in this article or something else happened. A tragic waste of life.
Assuming he really shot himself, I wonder if he was taking some sort of prescription drugs that would so affect his mind that he would kill himself, not because he couldn’t have shoes, but because the store simply didn’t have a particular style in his size that day.
If he killed himself in the basement bedroom, how did the revolver end up outside in the alley?
I hope the store he shopped at gets lawyered up - I smell a lawsuit for not having the kid’s size available. It’s their fault, you know. Oy.
Have you no sole?
Honest, occifer, he shot himself cause he couldn’t get the shoes he wanted. Something smells here.
not enough info and its probably gonna be awhile before the true facts are known, then buried under britny/messiah 'news'...
Given that it’s Gary, IN, the probability is about .99 that he is black.
When he returned home, he went downstairs to his cousin’s bedroom in the basement and put the gun to his head, Azcona said.
About 2:30 p.m., Vernon’s 17-year-old cousin entered his bedroom and saw his younger cousin with the weapon
..........................................................................................................................................After reading the above statement from the article, do you still think this was about shoes???? Gees, people are so gullible when looking for an explanation.
I find myself more confused that compassionate. I read somewhere that if you removed the black-on-black murders, the murder rate would decrease by over 75%. Personally, I doubt the suicide explanation. Far too often the solution to a black argument is to grab a gun and shoot someone. Gees, recently, I read about a murder over a parking place! Obviously, I can't relate to this because I'm not black, but even standing from the outside looking in, it simply makes no sense to me.
“....Glad to hear a more compassionate take on the situation....”
Compassion is fine; I do feel bad for the kid. However, as pointed out earlier, it stinks as reported. There’s most liekly something else that happened - the cousin had the gun stashed, the kid had the gun stashed, etc., and they were fooling with it. The newspaper reporter/editor (whatever) has an agenda and is using the “compassion” angle (Child distraught over shoes + evil gun = tragedy).
My compassion lasts about three seconds, then goes straight to “NOW how is the other side going to try to use THIS latest episode to further erode MY right to keep and bear arms?”
Bottom line: Stupid People will AWAYS take out themselves out in the stupidest Darwin Award way possible, over the stupidest reasons possible, and the other side will always find a way to blame guns/gun owners and exploit it to further their socialist war against our rights.
Just get sick of it after a while, and probably a little numb too (which is also sad).
Amen brother...
While tragic, we had a local kid die from heat stroke/complications from a friday football practice this AM...
Prayers up for the family, now move on as a community, IMO...
But I guarantee that this will be squawked about for weeks/months to come with lawsuits inevitable for the whole school...[I can imagine my 17 yr olds mother joining a class action for mental anguish]...
its the worst part of the internet...too much reporting on simple Sh!t Happens tragedies, with the degradation of FReedom being spoonfed to the wailing victims...
LFOD...
His 17 year old cousin was living with him and his mother in the basement of their house. Which might tell you something about the 17 year cousin's mother.
They (either the 17 year old or the 14 year old) had a .38 revolver that they either found discarded in an alley after a crime (if story of how they had the gun is true), or bought it illegally from someone (if the story of how they had the gun is not true). Either way at least one of them had a .38 revolver that they knew they should not have.
So at the minimum, you have a mother that can't take care of her 17 year old son due to most likely drug use or being in jail, a 17 year old living in the basement of his Aunt's house because of that, and at least one of them having a loaded gun that they knew they should not have.
Myself, I think the 17 year old shot the 14 year old, and I think he had to come up with the story in a hurry and made up this stupid story about the younger cousin killing himself over the pair of shoes.
Not from a well-heeled family?
Of course, it is sad. But, don’t you understand black humor? Uh, let me rephrase that - don’t you understand gallows humor?
My initial suspicion, but this can be easily determined by a Gunshot Residue Analysis.
My sentiments also.
no uniforms
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