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14 yr old. shoots home invader-protects siblings

j4l

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A 14-year-old Phoenix boy shot an intruder who broke into his home while brandishing a gun as the teenager watched his three younger siblings, police said.

The teen and his brothers and sisters were at home alone at their residence at 55th Avenue and Baseline when a woman rang the doorbell Friday. The teen didn't open the door because he didn't recognize her, Police Officer James Holmes said Saturday.

Soon after, the teen heard a bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent's bedroom. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man breaking through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who is in critical condition but expected to survive and be booked into jail.

Holmes said the suspect did not get a shot off. He declined to release his name until he is booked into jail.

The woman who rang the home's doorbell got away.

Holmes hailed the teen's actions and his parents for teaching the kids to never open the door to strangers.

"The police and indeed our community does not ever want to see a situation where a teenager of that age has to take a weapon to protect his family ... but this young man did exactly what he should have done," he said. "I'm not sure he gave full thought about what he had to do. He just acted."

Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it.

He said the family, whose names were not released, is declining to speak to reporters about the ordeal, saying that they "are all pretty traumatized."

"The dad was pretty much out of his mind with distress, officers couldn't even talk to him," Holmes said. "It's going to take them a while to recover mentally."

He said police don't yet know what the suspect's intentions were and that will be one of the first questions they ask him when he is well enough to talk.

"This was mid-block in a neighborhood, at 4:30 in the afternoon in summertime and children are there," he said. "They just took a heck of a gamble for this particular house, and we've got to try to figure out why."

Holmes added that the family is lucky that the teen acted so swiftly and effectively.

"As ugly as this is, and as much as this family is going through, we don't have injured children on our hands," he said.
 

WOD

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Good job! Hope the family recovers from their shock quickly, and the teen takes advantage of some counseling, it's not a good thing to have happen that young. It's good he acted as quickly, and did what he had to do to protect his own, it sucks though he had to do it.
 

j4l

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Indeed.
Let's hope, though, that local law-enforcement, and his community continue to be as supportive of his having to do what he did, as they seem to be for now. (at least, as is reported). It would really stink if they suddenly pull a Zimmerman on this kid, and put him and his family through all that mess.
 

RCinLaveen

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Jun 13, 2012
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Phoenix, AZ
Crime stats in Laveen seemed to be looking better, but this puts us right back on the "stupid" map. It will be interesting to hear the rest of the story when the guy in intensive care gets to answer some questions.
 

OC for ME

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Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it.
Really? Based on the facts provided by Officer Holmes the boy seemed trained well enough.

I wonder sometimes about our 'Boys in Blue'.
 

jrj_51

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Michigan
Really? Based on the facts provided by Officer Holmes the boy seemed trained well enough.

I wonder sometimes about our 'Boys in Blue'.

It's possible he meant 'It is unclear if he was trained to shoot innocent bad guys that have to make a living too.' There are people who would be opposed to children/teens being taught such things and they don't mind being vocal about it. It would be a shame for the police to tell everyone that the kid was trained in defensive handfun techniques and he was raised to believe in protecting himself and his home/family just to have the family mercilessy bashed by idiot 'lay down and die/anti-violence' types for raising a bloodthirsty monster.
 

Dreamer

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In MD, DC, NY, IL and CA, this kids's parents would be looking at misdemeanor or possibly even felony charges, for having a gun stored that a child could access.

Luckily for this family, AZ has much more sensible gun laws.

Earlier this week (June 22), in Phoenix, an attempted home invasion ended up with the BGs firing into the house, and three people were hit with bullets.

Luckily, this young man had the presence of mind to do EVERYTHING by the book with regards to security, preparation, and home-defense, and the BG ended up being the only one shot--as it should be...

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/18856681/2012/06/22/3-shot-during-home-invasion-shooters-sought
 

sharkey

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Arizona
Indeed.
Let's hope, though, that local law-enforcement, and his community continue to be as supportive of his having to do what he did, as they seem to be for now. (at least, as is reported). It would really stink if they suddenly pull a Zimmerman on this kid, and put him and his family through all that mess.

This ain't Florida :banana:

The only way he'll be charged is ................... I couldn't think of any.

Laveen is going downhill though. Shootings at the school, daylight home invasion, taco bell shooting (that's your Zimmerman case j4l .... uggg.
 
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sharkey

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In MD, DC, NY, IL and CA, this kids's parents would be looking at misdemeanor or possibly even felony charges, for having a gun stored that a child could access.

Luckily for this family, AZ has much more sensible gun laws.

Earlier this week (June 22), in Phoenix, an attempted home invasion ended up with the BGs firing into the house, and three people were hit with bullets.

Luckily, this young man had the presence of mind to do EVERYTHING by the book with regards to security, preparation, and home-defense, and the BG ended up being the only one shot--as it should be...

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/18856681/2012/06/22/3-shot-during-home-invasion-shooters-sought

Your link says hooters sought ...:eek:
I couldn't resist sharing that with you. Fun with truncation.

On a serious note. Always identify your target and know what's beyond it. Blindly firing through the door?
 
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sharkey

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SFCRetired

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carolina guy

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I will keep this father and his son in my prayers. Thankfully, the son did the right thing...defend his siblings, get armed and call his parents! I hope my children never have to do the same!
 

mwaterous

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Jun 1, 2012
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New Mexico
Has anyone else seen that episode of South Park, "It's coming right for us!" (Season One, Ep3... not that I know that). If you have, then you understand what I'm thinking... and I'm very glad to hear there are no charges as well.
 
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