Posted on 08/11/2006 4:05:08 AM PDT by Pharmboy
What started out as a night of fun for teenagers at a summer party on Long Island turned into a confrontation and ended in death when a father shot one of five threatening youths who followed his son home, the police said yesterday.
The dispute began at a gathering Wednesday night in Sound Beach, near Long Island Sound in Suffolk County, when a girl complained that she had been insulted by something vulgar that another partygoer, Aaron White, 19, had written about her in an Internet chat room, the police said.
Mr. White was told to leave the party and then drove to his home in nearby Miller Place. But en route, the dispute escalated in a series of angry cellphone calls with another partygoer, Daniel Cicciaro, 17, of Port Jefferson Station, the police said. With four companions, Mr. Cicciaro pursued Mr. White to his home, arriving there shortly after 11 p.m., they said. “The five individuals pull up in two cars, and when they do, the garage door opens and exiting are the son with a shotgun and his father with a handgun,” said Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commander of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.
“There’s a confrontation in the street, a lot of yelling, and at some point Mr. White shoots the victim in the face,” he said, referring to John White, Aaron’s father.
snip
John White, 53, a construction foreman, was arrested... The weapon used was an unlicensed semiautomatic, the police said.
snip
Mr. Cicciaro, who graduated from Newfield High School in June, was white, as are his companions; Mr. White and his son are black.
The neighborhood where the party and the shooting took place, on the upper-middle-class North Shore, is predominantly white.
The Whites bought their house there in 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Whoa. I am confused.
"One shot in the ground would have scattered them."
You mean after the sight of the two armed men didnt? It was 5 to 2 when the two were on their own property.
They should have stayed in their house but I can't really fault them for defending themselves.
Of course you could always have called 911 and hoped they responded.
Yep...the five were unarmed and the sound of the shot would have stopped them in their tracks. If they were armed--even with pipes or 2x4s--then shooting at them would have been appropriate, IMO.
Why do they bother mentioning race? Mr. White shot a youth in the street without do cause. Is there more to this story than the bigot reporter is telling us here?
That is about the time reasonably sane individuals would have left. And while differant states have differant laws, if the five stepped onto the White's property, in many states they would be justified in using deadly force.
But since this is an newspaper account I would be amazed if they even have the names right.
Question of bias crime was raised in the article.
What is this 'license' they speak of?
/Some days it's better to be a Floridian.
//Some days, at least.
Maybe.. maybe not, but he probably should have tried it first.
Sad story all the same.
"Yep...the five were unarmed and the sound of the shot would have stopped them in their tracks. If they were armed--even with pipes or 2x4s--then shooting at them would have been appropriate, IMO."
I just don't believe in warning shots. I've always been taught that if you don't have reason to kill someone you shouldn't be pulling the trigger.
If the sight of the guns didn't deter these 5 young adults then how do you know the sound of a warning shot wouldn't have just escalated the issue?
That clear it up for you?
Mentioning that Mr. White and his son are black is being a biggot?
It was the "Mr. White is black" thing. I was trying to make a joke on his name. I actually understood the article. Maybe it wasn't that funny.
The white boys who invaded the White's property were evidently using racial slurs.
" He said the pursuing teenagers “were using insults,” and derogatory terms, while the White family had “absolutely no” racial motivation."
I don't buy the "no racial motivation" on his part if the pursuing young adults were using racial insults. All the same, they shoulda known better than to chase this guy back to his house.
Oh... I get it now. :*)
Journalism One-Oh-Dumb.
I don't understand. If five white guys are chasing one black guy and they are calling him names how does that also implicate the one black guy?
The sound of a gunshot changes everything. And, I have heard what you have heard my whole life also, but these kids evidently did not have tire irons in their hands. If they did, I'm with you--no warning shots.
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