The kid Mr. White shot went to school with Mr. White's son. The young men knew each other by name and by face and had spoken on the phone. Mr. White could have called the police and identified those who were arguing with his son and let the police deal with it. Instead Mr. White chose to handle things his own way which culminated in his firing a pistol into an unarmed young man's face from point-blank range. Mr. White screwed up royally here.
Yeah, I know how these street things go. They had spoken on the phone, because the Cicciaro punk called him in an attempt to call him out. The fact that the father focused on him, means he led the mob. The 4-5 punks were out to severely beat White's kid. Had the cops showed first, they would have noticed the squad, not showed and caught the kid "in some alley". Had the squad showed with White in the house, the same would have happened. The cops wouldn't do a damn thing, except tell them to move along, or maybe bust them for being drunk.
"Instead Mr. White chose to handle things his own way which culminated in his firing a pistol into an unarmed young man's face from point-blank range. Mr. White screwed up royally here."
Mr White chose to defend his family right then and there. I think he had some idea what street punks are about, but had very little skill at dealing with them. He was not a fighter, 54 and it's reasonable that he should have an effective tool like the gun to handle the matter. Considering the gun came out of storage for the occasion and the handling of it during the confrontation, I think he was inept handling it. I don't think he ever gave it's use much consideration, other than to keep it handy.
Given that Mr White was inept at handling these things, which most folks are, I do not see recklessness. Mr White said he told his wife to call the cops before he ran out of the house. I gave the reasons she didn't above on the thread. She was terrified and froze, because of the hell Cicciaro and his punk gang of thugs brought down upon the family.
This started at the drinking party. White's kid had been asked to leave by others. The punks had to ask why White's kid was asked to leave. Had the Cicciaro punk caught White's kid at the party, he would have beaten him there with the help of the rest of the punk's gang. The punks used the phone in an attempt to lure the victim out. That didn't work, so they showed at his home.
Cicciaro and the punks drew first blood and weren't going to give up. They forced the father into a situation he was unable to cope with and handle. It was both unfair and vicious of the punks to do that. White didn't just wake up one day at night and decide he wanted to dig out a gun and confront someone. He didn't even have the gun handy, it was packed and hidden away.
As far as I'm concerned, Cicciaro, the punks with him and the jackals that raised him are 100% responsible for what happened here. Classless clymers have neither the right, nor any justification whatsoever to test folks on the spur of the moment, in the middle of the night, with such viciousness. As I said above, if my kid did this and got their ass shot, I'd side with my kid's victim.
No one has the right to second guess incompetents with a test of skill when they're forced into a nightmare like the punks dragged White into. Charging recklessness on White's part is BS! All the recklessness was committed by the punks, the DA and their jackel backers, and it was voluntary. The fact that White made mistakes and scewed up is irrelevant, because the game he was forced into was fundamentally unfair and above his head.