Attack wounds 9-year-old at football practice (Pittsburgh)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | 10/22/02 | Nate Guidry and Michael A. Fuoco

[ellery]

A 9-year-old boy who was practicing with his youth football team was shot in the hip this evening by someone who fired from a wooded area at McKinley Park in Beltzhoover.

Officials said the boy sustained an abrasion wound to his left hip. He was taken to Children's Hospital in Oakland, where he was in fair condition, said hospital spokesman Dean Walters.

[ellery]

Ping

[hoosierskypilot]

Perfect. Somebody romanticizing about the sniper.

[MHT]

My biggest concern about the sniper is that it would inspire some loony copycat--now this. Maybe the 24/7 media attention to getting the DC sniper isn't the best approach.

[SamAdams76]

Sloppy copycat. Bet he's captured by sunrise.

[Professional]

Interesting to see if he's caught quickly, if he is, it furthers the notion that this situation in DC is being executed by experts.

[Palladin]

Copycat--I hope so. Or the Beltway maniac has chosen a new venue.

[SamAdams76]

Four shots, one of them just grazing the target. Doesn't sound like the same sniper to me. It's likely some disturbed high school kid.

[Pharmboy]

Nope...this wasn't him. More than one shot and he missed.

[txjeep]

I hope this is not the beginning of rampant snipers all over the place, either al quaeda or "normal" psychos.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Four shots, one of them just grazing the target. Doesn't sound like the same sniper to me. It's likely some disturbed high school kid

I'm not so sure about your assessment. Maybe the kids were moving and were hard to hit, therefore more shots were fired.

[P8riot]

It is possible. It's only a 4 hr drive to Pittsburgh from Rockville, MD. But the fact that there was more than one shot, and the lack of accuracy leads me to believe that there is a copycat involved.

[spycatcher]

Intersting that the media is ignoring this one though.

[Cindy]

"Bystanders report hearing four shots from woods near McKinley Park"

Opinion: This is not the one-shot "Beltway Sniper." Doesn't make us feel any better though, does it now?

[DouglasKC]

Sounds more like some kid was messing around in the woods, maybe target practicing and one of the kids got winged.

[FormerLurker]

Four shots, one of them just grazing the target. Doesn't sound like the same sniper to me. It's likely some disturbed high school kid.

Although apparently not the DC area sniper, this COULD be a shooter from another cell. Remember, the DC sniper said in a message "Your children are not safe - anywhere, at any time".

[SamAdams76]

Not only is the media not covering this but this thread is not generating much interest here at FR either. Yet if I started the 18th thread about Chief Moose, it would reach 1,000 replies by midnight.

I think 9-year-old kids getting shot at on a football field is a pretty major story, even if it turns out to be a local wackjob. Remember, it's only been a few hours since the media released the contents of the "Your children are not safe anywere" note.

[Dog Gone]

It was only a matter of time. Look at what happened with school shootings, or even fake anthrax attacks.

[ellery]

Yeah, my hope is that the four shots indicate a copycat or other situation, rather than the sniper. However, with the "no child is safe" message from today, I thought this was pretty weird. Could be that the kids were moving...or could be a different cell with a so-so marksman? Guess it's too soon to start trotting out the paranoia....

[LasVegasMac]

was shot in the hip

Officials said the boy sustained an abrasion wound to his left hip

Huh?

What kind of gun causes an "abrasion" instead of a hole?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the kid was not hurt (abrased?) too bad.

Something smells.

LVM