Teen pulling prank killed by neighbor

The Palm Beach Post ^ | Sunday, October 26 | Sarah Eisenhauer and Cynthia Kopkowski

[Freedom2specul8]

Whoops, some how I attributed joan's post as being yours..

[Frunabulax]

If I were the homeowner, I simply would have chased the kid and "confronted" him, no firearm necessary.

If I knew that some teenagers were playing pranks I'd just ignore the doorbell and go back to sleep. Chasing other people's kids around in the middle of the night is a bit risky. People might think you're some kind of pervert or something.

[Freedom2specul8]

BUMP to that!

[Ciexyz]

A number of years ago, some local teen boys were harassing my family's house. They would drive by our house late at night and stop--and wait. When my Mom went to the window, they would speed up and drive off. It frightened my Mom, she was getting paranoid over the whole thing. Fortunately, my Dad had a gun--just in case. The harassment eventually stopped, but we still remember the fear.

[Ciexyz]

16 years old is way too old for Halloween pranks. This ain't the fifties and Leave it to Beaver suburbia.

[TheWriterInTexas]

Dear Lifacs - the below response is not addressed to you, but a general response to the article.

"What is so important that you are defending that you need a gun?"

What about YOUR LIFE, you ninny?!?

Doesn't this woman read the papers? Robbers are more daring now than ever, coming into the home when folks are home, usually waking them up at night.

My grandmother was robbed in her home, while she was present, in the middle of the freakin afternoon. They knocked, and when she answered, they pushed in the front door. They stole all her jewelry, even her WEDDING RING! She'd worn it for over 50 years and those bastards took it. The shock of it all broke her, she had a her first heart attack two days later.

I have two babies at home. They are my life. If someone starts banging on my door at 12:30 at night and wakes me out of a sound sleep, you'd better believe I'm answering the door packing.

[On the Road to Serfdom]

>The guy in Louisiana didn't have to go outside.

If he wants to go ouside he can. Maybe he wanted to find out what was doing on. He did not just go ouside and shoot someone. Only after someone pretended to attack him while ignoring his cries to freeze did he shoot.

>The guy in Palm Beach didn't have to go outside.

If somene rings your bell, you take a while to get there, and noone appears to be there it is natural to walk outside. Maybe it is a friend who is getting back into their car in your driveway.

[Freedom2specul8]

I wouldn't even answer it...

[On the Road to Serfdom]

So many typos, must be time to call it a night.

[Freedom2specul8]

I'm outta here too... It's hard to concentrate when I'm surrounded by screaming Chief's fans. G'nite all!

[No Income Tax]

Also what kind of burglar knocks or rings the bell?

We had them in Knoxville. We had an instance a couple of years ago where the burglars shot a man at one of the houses where they rang the doorbell and committed robbery. I want to hear the rest of the story before I draw any conclusions.

[TankerKC]

Sorry the giant kid died.

Yeah! Let's all go out and kill every teenager we see out late!

[usadave]

When Levin, a Palm Beach County businessman who lived alone, was awakened from his sleep by a knock at the door early Saturday, he armed himself with a handgun and answered it, deputies said.

Neither my wife nor I would ever open the door in response to a knock or the doorbell ringing unless we know who is on the other side. If we can't tell by looking through the door's peephole, we ask out loud for the person to identify themself. If we don't know them or don't want to deal with them, we don't open the door and instead ask the person to leave the premises.

[Ciexyz]

I think there is a lot more to this story than is contained in the newspaper article.

That goes without saying. I NEVER trust newspaper accounts to be complete and accurate. They grab what they have and go to press with it. And they often make things up when they don't have the full details. (A police officer told me that once. I believe it.)

I would guess....the police had many run-ins with the "good kid", and knew he was trouble.

Good thought. Maybe he was a kid that they couldn't pin anything on. You need to get them on video to charge them with anything nowadays.

[durham62]

You have no idea who this kid was. Who are you to assume he has had runins with the police? I knew Mark personally and he has never been in any trouble involving the police and would never be suspected of anything that could get him in trouble with the law.

[durham62]

Its people who overreact who the most fun to play with

[Ciexyz]

This is so sad. I'm afraid many adults here have forgotten the things they have done while juveniles.

No I haven't. When I was sixteen, if I was even up at 12:30 AM, I was putting finishing touches on that book report.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Are you insane? Your alledged friend died playing with someone who "Overreacted."

I have my doubts about your authenticity.

[durham62]

Doubt all you like but I generally coin people who shoot kids for ringing their doorbells late at night "overreacting".