Posted on 11/09/2008 2:51:05 AM PST by WilliamReading
ST. JOHNS, Ariz. – A man who police believe was shot and killed by his 8-year-old son had consulted a Roman Catholic priest about whether the boy should have a gun and had taught him how to use firearms, the clergyman said Sunday.
The Very Rev. John Paul Sauter said the father, Vincent Romero, 29, wanted his son to learn how to hunt, while the boy's stepmother, Tiffany, suggested he have a BB gun.
Police say the boy used a 22.-caliber rifle Wednesday to kill his father and another man, Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos.
Romero was an avid hunter who taught his son how to use a rifle to kill prairie dogs, said Sauter, of St. Johns Catholic Church.
"He wanted to make sure the kid wasn't afraid of guns, knew how to handle it," the priest said. "He was just too young. ... That child, I don't think he knows what he did, and it was brutal."
The boy, who faces two counts of premeditated murder, did not act on the spur of the moment, St. Johns Police Chief Roy Melnick said.
"I'm not accusing anybody of anything at this point," he said Saturday. "But we're certainly going to look at the abuse part of this. He's 8 years old. He just doesn't decide one day that he's going to shoot his father and shoot his father's friend for no reason. Something led up to this."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
And the beat goes on.
Abuse, huh?
Well they’ve got to blame something to make their world right.
I'm 55 now. I must be a ticking time bomb.
Very interesting. I’m 52. Shot a Remington .22 rifle for the first time on a range at a camp in Marin County, CA at age 8. Under 10, we were restricted to shooting in the prone position (range rule). Father or adult male relative or legal guardian had to accompany.
So you’re a ticking time bomb too?
We should have our own Website. Crazyoldfartswithguns.com
Gotta hit the hay. Be back tomorrow, or later today I guess.
Hey, padre, and I'll bet his dad taught him how to tie his own shoes, too.
I was 6. That was 40+ years ago. I guess I’m due to go loose cannon at any moment.
I think a bb gun would have been more appropriate at age 6-8. Thank your lucky stars you didn’t have an accident.
Oh Darn. I must be a ticking time bomb too. I’m 55, and was already shooting squirrels regularly by the time I was 8. We used to go down to the riverbank, unsupervised no less! after school and hunt squirrels and crows in the bush along the bank with an old Coey bolt action single shot. Still have it in fact. Second gun I ever owned. Before that I had a .22 cal air rifle.
Times have really changed. Now a days 8 year old kids still have training wheels on their bicycles and have to wear helmets, knee pads shin pads elbow pads and wrist supports, plus a sheet of bubble wrap tied around them.
ou don't think this kid killed two men with a rifle by accident, do you.
I never once worried about the boy killing us-—just having an accident. But, he never did. He is 22 now, and in the Army. He owns 3 or 4 guns of his own. He has been hunting since he was 4...He isn't a murderer.
See, what the government needs to worry about, isn't kids who have guns, killing people. Isn't that kids who hunt are more likely to think less of human life; but rather kids who think of sex as a sport, and abortion as birthcontrol. THOSE are the kids who do not value human life. They tend to think of others as they relate to their own selfish lusts, and sometimes those people are disposable. IF it is right to kill a helpless, innocent humanbeing that might be in the way of your plans....why wouldn't it be alright to kill a less helpless humanbeing who may be making your life miserable, or inconvienient?
I was driving at 6 (tractors and farm trucks), shooting at 8, riding/racing motorcycles by 10.
When I was 11, my dad had taught me about plumbing, electrical wiring, welding, and rebuilding truck and tractor engines.
If you guys are "ticking time bombs", then I'm a "suitcase nuke"....
LOL
Pssst! it is tomorrow. Most of us old coots are waking up for the day, or at least time that morning nap time.
the focus on this story is no accident.
The MSM is pushing outright gun bans now.
The border fence is most likely totally dead, Obama wants to create a “domestic military force to counter the military”, and social engineering is now given the green light.
Republicans and conservative advocacy groups need to mobilize on this now.
The best defense is a good offense. Lines need to be drawn now to prevent the left ward ratchet effect.
Yep. Teaching your kids to shoot and hunt at an early age and learn survival skills, gives them a more rounded view of life in general; A gun is a life tool, not just something for self defense. Hunting and gathering is our natural way by nature, while living in cities in square concrete cubicles playing video games isn't.
Inner city kids who never get out and learn these basic life skills, how to hunt and handle a gun, skin out some game, camp, and fish really miss out. This is valuable bonding time with their fathers, teaches them responsibility and decision making skills that kids parked in from of TV and given video games never get.
My boys all started shooting by the time they were 7, they had .22’s then, 30-30’s, shotguns, they can shoot pistols, they know how to handle a 9mm and Glock 40. I sent my 11 yr. old to a sleep away, outdoor camp this past summer where all they did was fish and shoot guns. I do not fear them killing me, nor do I fear them killing anyone else.
Not one of my kids, and my oldest will be 18 next month, has ever gone through a morose awkward period or have ever been slackers like I see so many other kids.
Sorry but an 8yr old living with his Dad and a boarder, a Mom states away, something ain’t right.
?
“My dad taught me to shoot at 10. I’m in my 40’s now and if he was still around, I think bullets would just piss him off.”
Lets apply some journalistic logic here. Your dad taught you to shoot at 10. Now he’s dead just like the guy who taught his kid to shoot at 8. Therefore teaching a kid to shoot is patricidal.
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