Teen With Camcorder Captures His Own Killing On Tape

http://www.wtov9.com/news/5039999/detail.html ^

[lunarbicep]

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Friends and relatives have said their final goodbyes to Wisconsin high school senior Seth Hammes.

Hammes, 17, was out using his camcorder as he explored the woods near Little Falls, Wis., last Saturday when the camera ended up recording his own fatal shooting.

After searchers found his body that night, investigators ran the videotape, which had captured the crack of gunshots, the teen's screams and the voice of the shooter, promising help that never came.

Police said the camcorder was the key to catching the man now charged with reckless homicide, 24-year-old Russell Schroeder. He told police he thought he saw an animal when he fired the shots, and he didn't call for help after seeing Hammes because he feared he would get in trouble.

The funeral service for Hammes was held Thursday.

His uncle, Ed Hammes, described his nephew as a gentle giant, who stood over six feet tall and wore size 17 shoes. He said the teen liked to tinker with the family's lawn mowers and research fireworks, but mostly he was someone who would go out of his way to help another.

Schroeder was being held on $250,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 85 years in prison.

[Texas Songwriter]

Shots? I don't think he thought this through. Fry him.

[P8riot]

Yup - barenaked and a rock is what hunting is all about.

To each his own. I hope you don't mind if I don't watch.

[Savage Beast]

Now, Ban, you oughtta know very well that I do not think of my fellow humans--and especially my fellow Freepers--as "lesser beings". Maybe I'm sitting on a high horse of some kind--I don't know (it doesn't feel very high here)--but the truth is I think what I said. (And, frankly, as a doctor, animal tissues look like human tissue--liver, for example--and it gives me the creeps.) But I'm not trying to convert anybody to my way of thinking or admonish anybody, f'cryin' out loud; I'm just trying to be myself, which, as Nik points out (vide infra), may not be a wise move.

Now, Nik. Nobody needs an invitation to stick his nose into any conversation here on FR. And if you post something, you're inviting disagreement and even castigation.

Anyway, I appreciate your giving me all the respect that is due an ass (that's what I meant, Bannie). (As a matter of fact, I've been called that before (especially by my wife)).

I was not asking a question, but I was wondering aloud; perhaps I was making an accusation, but, if so, I didn't realize it.

You win the bet. I did know that hunting is not about inflicting pain and terror, and that's not why people hunt. But, on the other hand, it is a part of hunting, and, unless I've missed something, it's an inescapable part of it.

I don't want to beat a dead horse--so to speak--but it's probably also an inescapable part of the entire meat industry.

I'm not trying to win converts or interfere with anybody's fun, but I can't help thinking what I think. And what's the point of posting, in anonymity, if you're not honest and candid?

Anyway, I don't mind being called an ass on a high horse.

I've been called worse.

I've BEEN worse.

And worse yet, I'm not even doing my best.

[gimme1ibertee]

OOOhh...Good one!
Well said!

[Kimmers]

As they say in Minnesota "Uff-da".....

[Northern Alliance]

1st degree would be premeditated. This guy did not plan to kill anyone. He made a terrible mistake, and in not taking responsibility for it probably caused the death of the young man. It's very much like a hit and run, leaving someone to die on the road. I don't know what a typical sentence for that would be, but I suspect less than 10 years.

[GladesGuru]

The reason I suggested Murder 1 is simply that in a republic, when a citizen willingly and knowingly does something that causes the death of another, that is killing by direct choice.

Not being a lawyer, and having historic American loathing of anyone who will argue any side of any question for a fee, I couldn't care less what some lawyer says. Likewise his opinions, or any claim to accuracy, on any subject whatsoever, are suspect unless they can be independently verified.

Those who deceive for a living are not to be trusted. So much for lawyers. Back to your post.

To claim that the shooter didn't make a deliberate decision which caused the death of the man he shot is to cast doubts on both your reasoning ability and comprehension of the fact.

While the firing of the shot may have been an accident, what happened after is is no way a matter of accident. The decision to not call medical help is a deliberate and planned action.

When the shooter decided not to call, he elevated what started as an accident to a series of volitional acts which guaranteed the death of another human being.

What was not planned in his actions? Did he not walk off and leave a known injured man to die? Sounds like first degree murder to me.

Regarding your hit & run analogy, you seem to have proved my point. I do feel that when a hit & run driver causes a death, where his calling for help could have made a difference, that failure to act is a deliberate action causing death. Again, first degree murder.

While I realize many Liberals and even RINO's don't want to agree with societal killing of murders, I humbly and compassionately suggest their contemplation of the word "tough".

[Gondring]

But, on the other hand, it is a part of hunting, and, unless I've missed something, it's an inescapable part of it.

You're missing a lot. I'd suggest we go hunting together sometime so you can see.

Life is about decisions, not just "perfect, no-lose solutions," and sometimes we must make painful decisions. Plants emit ultrasonic "screams" when cut, yet few vegetarians even suggest eating only the dropped fruits of the earth. Likewise, nature is very cruel...and yet sportsmen often give creatures a life that is less cruel than they'd otherwise have, from habitat preservation to population protection to a more swift and painless demise.

Might I suggest with just as much benevolence as your posts, that you are ignorant and could use some broader and deeper understanding of the topic.

You don't say what kind of doctor you are. I have my guesses. Mind sharing?

[SALChamps03]

I agree.

[Savage Beast]

No thanks. I've been hunting.

M.D.

[Gondring]

Although you've been hunting, if you believe it include be "pain and terror," then you still carry a misconception. But of course you may choose to remain ignorant, if you wish.

GP?

[lunarbicep]

Man pleads not guilty in videotaped death

[sphinx]

The anti-2nd nuts love stories like this.

I'm pro Second Amendment, but there are too many people hunting in places they shouldn't. I was walking through the woods at the Five Forks battlefield a few years ago. Not being a hunter, I didn't know it was the first day of hunting season. I came out of the woods just before dusk and it looked like the whole dang-blanged rebel army was lined up ready to go in. I swear, there were more hunters there than Pickett had troops in '65, or at least it seemed that way, me being in Yankee blue.

I have less of a problem with black powder hunting and none at all with the bow hunters, but all those high powered rifles are pretty dangerous in countryside with a lot of houses scattered around and major highways crossing it.