Attack wounds 9-year-old at football practice (Pittsburgh)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | 10/22/02 | Nate Guidry and Michael A. Fuoco

[ellery]

A 9-year-old boy who was practicing with his youth football team was shot in the hip this evening by someone who fired from a wooded area at McKinley Park in Beltzhoover.

Officials said the boy sustained an abrasion wound to his left hip. He was taken to Children's Hospital in Oakland, where he was in fair condition, said hospital spokesman Dean Walters.

[kaylar]

No. You're thinking of the Blue Dahlia, which is a fictional film starring Alan Ladd. Elizabeth Ann Short took the name Black Dahlia in homage both to this film and to her habit of wearing nothing but black garments. The eventsof the film and the murder case better little resemblance IIRC, as there was no husband falsely accused of Short's murder.

[Velveeta]

I think 9-year-old kids getting shot at on a football field is a pretty major story

An I agree with you bump.

[concerned about politics]

Brown said about 30 players and five coaches were on the field when they heard about four shots fired from a wooded area overlooking the football field.

Geeez. I hope the shooter wasn't just trying to take out more than one kid today and that's why the four shots. Moving targets would be harder to hit, but what if he(?) was after volume? Just take a few quick shots and run. Nobody said the original shooter was really that good. He may just have a good scope.
I really hope this was maybe a hunting accident or something like that.

[Redcloak]

Must have been a "Pee-Wee Jihadee".

[nevergore]

There was no target practice in the woods....At 7:30pm ET it's pitch black in the woods and the field was lit....I'm sure well lit were the boys were practicing.......

Distance, lighting and the speed the boy's were moving would make a shot difficult.

It's ominous on the tail of today's warning in DC....

NeverGore

[Henrietta]

"This is unreal. We finally got the kids back into the community. We were practicing for the playoffs. We were undefeated. And something like this happens," said Brown.

What's unreal is that this coach expressed no sympathy at all for the kid that got shot!

[I_be_tc]

Here's a bump, Sam

TC

[concerned about politics]

What's unreal is that this coach expressed no sympathy at all for the kid that got shot!

Yep. The kids are there for the school. The school is not there for the kids. Kids=$$$$

[El Gato]

What kind of gun causes an "abrasion" instead of a hole?

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the kid was not hurt (abrased?) too bad.

Maybe he was hit in the hip pad, the sudden movement of which caused the "abrasion"? Some of the pads that the pee-wees wear are thicker than the kids. And I'm darn glad they are too!

[Diddle E. Squat]

What likely happened was that statement came after the coach's comments expressing concern and sympathy, but for whatever reason those were not quoted in the article. Perhaps since others had been quoted as expressing those sentiments, the editor went with only the coach's statement that were different or unique.

As conservatives, we should be able to understand how easy it is to be selectively quoted and cast into a unfair negative light, whether by intent or not.

[Palladin]

Yes, it is hunting season here. However, this occurred at 7:30 pm, and it is against the law here to shoot after sundown.

[El Gato]

Yep. The kids are there for the school. The school is not there for the kids.

Pee Wee leagues are not generally school sponsered. They are usually sponsered by private organiztions. In our town, long ago in a galaxy far away, it was the local Lions Club, the Police department, and so forth, that sponsered the teams and provided the coaches. That police team was tough, in part because it came mainly from the "tough" part of town.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I'd be willing to bet its someone under age 25, perhaps a high-schooler.

So I'm wondering if their will now be calls to shut down the schools in VA, MD, PA, OH, and WV?

[pubmom]

Bumping

[concerned about politics]

Pee Wee leagues are not generally school sponsered.

Oh. Here, the schools do it. It's for PR.

[Palladin]

Although it is small game season here, no legitimate hunter would be out after dark.

PA. hunting seasons:

http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/PGC/digest/02_03/PDF/02_03_13.pdf

[Lawdoc]

Wasn't the kid admitted in only "fair" condition - thats pretty bad for an abrasion. Sounds like the story is inconsistent. Hope the kid only has an abrasion.

[Palladin]

Updated story at the Pitt Post-Gazette:

http://www.post-gazette.com/breaking/20021022shootingwebp1.asp

[ellery]

Local news at 11 reporting:
-child in fair condition; injury not life-threatening
-woods sealed off; police using news station infrared helicopter to help in search
-police chief thinks shot was from "small caliber firearm, pellet gun or bb gun," may be from people practicing on targets in woods.

Thoughts?

[My Favorite Headache]

I can't believe the slowness of this thread and story. Is anything being reported about this? What caliber was the bullet?