Teen pulling prank killed by neighbor

The Palm Beach Post ^ | Sunday, October 26 | Sarah Eisenhauer and Cynthia Kopkowski

[Ciexyz]

If the homeowner's house was worth $190,000 and the dead kid lived a few streets over...can we assume that this is a high-income neighborhood...as in lily white and everything's right with the world? And we don't live in fear of home invasions?

Because it doesn't make sense when parents and friends are whining, it was just a harmless prank. I wonder, what world are you people living in? You don't do things like that nowadays at 12:30 AM. It's suicidal.

[durham62]

Actually that's exactly what kind of neighborhood that is. And if such actions are suicidal is that a threat to any person who comes knocking at your door at night?

[faithincowboys]

I agree, I think it is tragic. This guy needs to be charged.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I can't speak to the mans actions, I was addressing your previous comment to Ciexyz. That is one of the most foolish thing I have ever heard, I can't believe you are being so glib when someone you purport to call friend lies dead after what can only be considered a tragedy.

Coin that as you will. A teenager should know better than to harass anyone and not expect some kind of response.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

This thread has already gone far on too long and has lost it's interest for me'

I now return to my previously scheduled programming already in progress.

[JoeSixPack1]

Yeah! Let's all go out and kill every teenager we see out late!

Oh come now, your profiling teenagers! No profiling!

[Timesink]

Actually I met with the kid who was with Mark and he told me Mark had no weapon. He was not lying.

This is hearsay. It would not be admissible in court, for good reason. You have no way of knowing whether or not he is lying, because you were not there.

[carl in alaska]

Yes that's true in a strict legal sense. It depends on how much risk you're willing to take as a homeowner. Personally, I would tell an intruder to leave before shooting someone. I'd only shoot if someone was either carrying a weapon or would not leave voluntarily. I'd probably try to leave before shooting someone, but I would shoot someone real quickly who pointed a gun at me.

I don't blame someone for shooting an intruder in their house, because if you wait you may not have a chance to fire. It just depends how brave you want to be and how much leeway you want to give to an intruder. I'm just happy that I've never been shot for walking into the wrong house or crashing a party.

[Cultural Jihad]

The 16 year old should not have been out wandering the streets at 1230 am.

Does that make him 'fair game'? Of course not.

[scripter]

is this prank where you ring the doorbell and then run before someone does answer the door(doorbell ditch)? why was the kid still there outside the door? it must have taken some time for the homeowner to get up and get to the door... the kid should have been running away by then...

[Salvation]

I will, tiki.

[Crispy]

"How do you know he goes to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Friday nights?"

I don't. My point is that red eyes does not mean he is stoned. I am working the graveyard shift, my eyes may be red when I get woken up early at 6PM.

[laredo44]

There HAS TO BE more information that is not reported. Otherwise, the homeowner would be in jail.

You are right. The guy could have "connections".

[#3Fan]

This newspaper went all out to portray this kid as some kind of male Mother Teresa. Seems like they tried awfully hard to build the kid up and demonize the man. I don't think this newspaper is telling the whole story.

Why was the kid in the door if it was a "knock and run"? I betcha the kid knocked and maybe wasn't able to get away and hid close to the door and when the man answered the door he lunged out from wherever he was hiding to do the "run" part of "knock and run" and surprised and scared the man into shooting him.

[laredo44]

I guess these poor angelic kids were simply trying to deliver cookies and free Bibles at 1:00 in the morning.

A kid he knew, apparently well, has just been killed. The guy's obviously upset. You're an ass.

[#3Fan]

I don't. My point is that red eyes does not mean he is stoned. I am working the graveyard shift, my eyes may be red when I get woken up early at 6PM.

I have sensitive eyes. I can eat some popcorn at night and wake up with bloodshot eyes from the salt in the popcorn. A girl I used to work with swore I was a stoner (mostly jokingly to my face...lol...but she did believe it) on mornings after I would eat salty food. But no, it was the salt.

[G.Mason]

" The sheriff's office would not release the name of the teenager who was with Drewes Saturday morning. Nor would it confirm the family's assertion that morgue officials told them Saturday afternoon that Drewes was shot in the back. "

That's what I was saying. We don't know the facts, as yet.

"Bobwade" said " Shot in the back does makes this look bad but I cannot say what the homeowner thought he saw or what happened. Best to leave this one up to people with all of the facts."

Hence my remark.

[G.Mason]

"Individual life and property has no value to communists."

So it would seem.

To them, there is nothing worth dying for.

[Mulder]

A kid he knew, apparently well, has just been killed. The guy's obviously upset. You're an ass.

He's so upset, he's running around an internet bulletin board, anonomously, tossing insults around?

That upset?

Like I said, there's more to this case.

Although I could be wrong, and it turns out to be little more than Darwin prevailing once again.

[Mulder]

You're an ass.

I'll plead guilty to that.

But even I'm not dumb enough to go around harassing people at o'dark thirty.

The posts here about the kid lead me to beleive that he was little more than a spoiled brat who got away with everything because he was popular.

Having said that, maybe the shooting wasn't justified. But I still contend that the fact that the police didn't arrest him says a lot.