Neighbor twice called police over pranksters (teen prankster)

The Palm Beach Post ^ | Tuesday, October 28 | Dani Davies, Jane Musgrave and Pamela Pérez

[Oztrich Boy]

So you automatically assume that the kid who shot the house with the paint ball is the same one that got killed?

NO, that was a comment on the newspapers choice to use "prankster"

Well, my automatic assumption is that the neighbor is a freak, and the neighborhood kids treated him like a freak,

That makes it alright? The term is "harrassment" and it's illegal.

And I also automatically assume that about 10% of the population is sociopaths (this is based on psychological studies of the general population), and that sociopaths won't think it's wrong to kill someone who pisses you off.

What I learnt from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "One should never hurt the feelings of a vicious killer."

And as you never know who might be (on your own assessment) it's best not do do that to anyone.

Which just might make you a sociopath.

I'd call that a radical interpretation of the text

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

Your tax dollars at work.

Welcome to Pope John Paul II High School

That would be a Private Catholic School.

[stainlessbanner]

Hello the fire!

[#3Fan]

No, I've never been the neighborhood freak, but are you saying that you are? Because if so, maybe I'd rather keep track of where you are at 1 a.m., since people who are the neighborhood freaks tend to be treated that way for a reason.

I live in a decent town and an older guy that lives close-by was killed by two kids in his house on his lunch hour. Many's the time I've taken a gun to the door with me. It only takes one time for someone to off you and there are no second chances.

[meyer]

That would be a Private Catholic School.

I stand corrected, though I still think its silly.

[Honcho]

I've been on Free Republic for a few years now and I'm appalled that some of the members here think that the man was justified. It's pretty obvious that he had pranks pulled on his house before and was pissed off about it.


I've never opened a door in my life with a pistol in my hand. If I'm afraid of what maybe knocking on the other side of my door, I don't open it unless I know who it is. Now if they come through my door or window on their own accord, that's a different story.

[js1138]

This is Florida?

About ten years ago a kid threw a brick through a window of a house next to my son's high school. The homeowner chased the kid down in his car and shot him dead. He was arrested and tried.

The jury aquitted him.

[Pharmboy]

Both were wrong and one is dead.

[harrowup]

One thing for sure, the vicious pranks against neighbors rate just went way down in that neighborhood. And of course, you know there weren't just the two reported episodes.

You have the stats for this?

... A few years after I graduated, the crazy guy who had been taunted for years and who tried to keep a neat home finally killed one of the little buggers.

Please provide a verifiable source for your story.

Not trying to ruin your day, cp, but your record of truthfulness is not good...and suggesting that killing a prankster is a good way to cut down on toilet paper in the trees is a very dangerous ploy even for blowhards.

[steve-b]

And I also automatically assume that about 10% of the population is sociopaths

Well, duh, this explains why this genetic mistake was out harassing people at 1 AM.

[FITZ]

Yes ----- previous pranks would give him reason to believe it was just kids again ---- kids out there being kids. Pulling pranks is something kids do --- some of the most responsible adults pulled pranks at age 15-16, pranks that were annoying but didn't hurt anyone.

High crime today makes being a kid a lot more dangerous --- some people really are so jumpy today they'd shoot anything that moves outside their window.

[dwilli]

Tis not a good idea to fart around anyones home in the middle of the night.

[dwilli]

Tis not a good idea to fart around anyones home in the middle of the night.

[Publius6961]

I guess none of the former kids on here ever did any pranks either --- they were always at home at age 16, sitting and studying, they always did whatever their parents told them, they were always with their parents at that age, in bed by 9pm. I remember doing some pranks and I wasn't exactly wild.

Societal awareness is not that complicated.
You are not aware of differences beetween 1952 and 1972 with society generally and public behavior in particular?

Between 1972 and 2002?
Never heard of road rage? Columbine? Setting dance halls on fire? Abortion? Gay bashing?

This has come as a surprise, but many on this thread do not seem to know the difference between innocent pranks and antisocial psycopathy.

And the concept of actions having consequences must be in a dead foreign language. Whoa.

[stainlessbanner]

I've never opened a door in my life with a pistol in my hand

Always open a door with a shotgun.

[steve-b]

they harass the freaks, the sickos, the crazies, and the creeps

When the the freaks, the sickos, the crazies, and the creeps enter the private property of citizens to engage in harassment, the the freaks, the sickos, the crazies, and the creeps sometimes pay the price, as happened in this case.

[steve-b]

And I also automatically assume that about 10% of the population is sociopaths

Well, duh, this explains why this genetic mistake was out harassing people at 1 AM.

[stainlessbanner]

I've never opened a door in my life with a pistol in my hand

Always open a door with a shotgun.

[InvisibleChurch]

not everyone is a reasonable as you ... that notwithstanding, any person ought to be left alone in peace... it doesn't sound like this guy did anything to deserve being hassled by neighborhood kids and it appears he over-reacted to the situation, but, you know, the guy might just be nuts or there might be a previous history we don't know about... where are mom and dad during all this? why aren't they teaching junior to respect other peoples' privacy and why do they allow him to be out at 1am? i suspect that instead of re-assessing their parenting techniques to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else, a younger sibling or relative, they will probably be led by an ambulance chaser to sue the guy, the city, the state, the gun manufacturer, and a host of other 'guilty' parties for a zillion dollars... everyone loses in the end

[William Terrell]

What is a "freak"? What kind of treatment do "freaks" deserve, and where is it written that teenagers are appointed to give "freaks" what they deserve and to be protected from the consequences?