Posted on 08/01/2006 3:47:39 PM PDT by Dysart
A 16-year-old Frisco teen in custody Tuesday told officers he simply wanted to kill someone, and the 14-year-old boy he shot Saturday night was a random target, police said.
The student from Frisco High School, who was not identified because he is a juvenile, not only confessed to shooting the boy as he opened his front door, but also said that on Thursday, he shot at a man as he walked his dog, police said.
He is not the same teen who was originally questioned in the shooting Saturday. That boy, 15, has been released and won't be charged, said Sgt. Gina McFarlin, a Frisco police spokeswoman.
The new suspect candidly told officers Tuesday that he wanted to kill someone, McFarlin said.
"The officers who broke this case really saved some lives, because the suspect told us he knew we had the wrong guy in custody,'' McFarlin said. "We believe he was probably going to prove that to us by shooting someone else.''
The suspect is charged with two counts of attempted capital murder. He was being held Tuesday at the Collin County Juvenile Detention Center in McKinney, McFarlin said.
The 14-year-old victim, who was not identified, was in critical condition Tuesday, but he was expected to recover, McFarlin said.
He told police he was alone about 9:15 a.m. Saturday at his home in the 6500 block of Scottsdale Way when he answered a knock at the front door. He was then shot twice, point-blank in the chest.
He dialed 911 to get help, and mistakenly identified a 15-year-old acquaintance as the shooter, McFarlin said. He was then flown by helicopter to Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, where he has been listed in critical condition.
Meanwhile, police took the 15-year-old boy into custody and struggled through Monday, trying to establish a motive for the shooting.
But also on Monday, McFarlin said, patrol officers responding to an unrelated report of a runaway teen found the missing boy and subsequently asked if he knew anything about some recent car burglaries in Frisco.
The teen responded that he knew another kid who recently bought a 9 mm pistol with a laser sight that was stolen from a car, McFarlin said. The officers went to the home of the gun buyer and found the weapon in his bedroom. He turned out to be the 16-year-old suspect, McFarlin said.
Investigators don't believe the 15-year-old boy and the 16-year-old suspect know each other, McFarlin said.
Officers were surprised when the suspect started confessing to the shootings.
"I'm not so sure he wanted to be caught,'' she said, "but he seemed excited by the potential notoriety. He wanted to get his story out.
"He said he didn't know who would answer the door at the residence on Scottsdale Way, but he knew he'd open fire when it opened. He said it was completely random.''
The suspect also described how two days earlier he fired at a man who was strolling with his wife and dog on Sweeney Lane. No one was hurt in that shooting, she said.
The suspect apparently lived with his family in the same upper middle-class neighborhood where the two shootings occurred.
"The suspect provided us with information we didn't know before,'' McFarlin said. "We knew that we had a bullet go into a house Thursday evening; what we did not know was that there was an intended victim.
"The man walking his dog said he heard a gunshot whiz by his head. But now we know there was a laser sight put on him. The guy didn't know he was an intended victim until we told him this morning.''
Detectives on Tuesday were trying to figure out why the suspect was bent on murder, McFarlin said. She did not have information about his home life or mental history.
"When you have a 16-year-old telling police he wanted to kill somebody,'' she said, "we have to stop and think what's going on in this kid's mind? What's going on in this kid's life?''
Here is young gangsta wannabe who just wanted to kill someone because he fantasized that it would make him famous.
I'm not the biggest Bill O'Reilly fan but I'd like to see him resume his rant about the evils of the rap "culture". I'd bet a nice sum that this little punk is a devotee of the music.
There you go. With the right jury he could get off on an insanity plea.
I lived in Frisco for a few months back in the early 80s. Nuthin but a quiet little town back then.
What! I was born in the 40s and San Francisco has always been a major city.
I'm sure you know that now it's a very fast growing little city that's quite ritzy. Ironically, so many teens like to pretend their ghetto kids. Ridiculous.
I think they're talking about Frisco, Texas - on the northern edges of the Dallas exurbs.
And he figures he is young enough that he will be tried as a juvenile and spend maybe 3 years in juvenile hall.
This is the southern fried Frisco. Tastes like chicken too.
What ? No one asked what religion he and the victim are ?
Best to have him executed before he harms someone else, or worse, kills someone.
When I was there the building boom had stalled and the place was surrounded with subdivisions without houses. There were miles of streets and houses but only a few scattered houses.
I was washing dishes in a diner/truckstop called The Royal when we watched the space shuttle explode during launch.
A jury can do anything, sure. But stating that you wanted to kill somebody is about the worst thing you can do if you plan on pleading insanity.
I'm pleased the victim has a chance, but when is the press going to learn what "point blank" means?
This is the same thing IMO that is going on here in Phoenix with our "serial shooter" There have been 40+ shootings linked to the same shooter including I think about 10 resulting in murder. They started out with animals, shooting horses and dogs, then progressed to a few homeless people, now just random people as targets.. with most recent ones being people walking or riding a bike along major roads alone. I think All have been after dark and most between 10pm & 2am. I told my wife the other night, my gut feeling is it's gang bangers doing it for fun or possibly some sort of initiation... They have absolutely no description of the shooter his vehicle or anything else... Unreal this can go on for a year now without any leads.
Remeber, psychology is a science and you can't question this! /sarc
Upper middle class...sheesh!
This boy needs to be let out on the streets as soon as possible because it is obvious that he is a victim.
You know, you're right. How could I have been so blind as to assail him. He probably came from a broken home where he wasn't held enough or taught proper diversity principles. I say let him go as well.
This world has gone mad.
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