Man thought book would stop bullet and make him a YouTube star, now he's dead

[SecularMotion]

Source: MassLive

Before Monday, before the 911 call and police investigation, Pedro Ruiz III, an aspiring YouTube star in rural Minnesota, spent considerable time convincing his girlfriend to shoot a gun at his chest.

There would be a thick encyclopedia book between the barrel and his body, authorities say he told 19-year-old Monalisa Perez. The pages, he reasoned, would stop the bullet.

He even had evidence that it had worked once before - a different book with an entrance hole but no exit.

So on Monday evening, the young couple positioned two cameras outside their home and prepared for their breakthrough stunt. They wanted fame, family said, and danger often brings it.

Read more: http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/06/he_thought_a_book_would_stop_a.html

[rurallib]

1. Well deserved Darwin Award

ETA - well a partial, I see he had a child already

[Billy Jingo]

2. I cannot express how much I truly loathe the concept of a "Darwin Award"

There is a dehumanizing and ugly depth to such a callous joke.

[rurallib]

3. Thank you

[IronLionZion]

5. People are doing it to themselves

it's not like genocide

[pirateshipdude]

7. I just read a whole thread about "Christians" saying the same to addicts of opiates.

Personally, I am astonished anyone would be so stupid, and sad for the loss and all loved ones will experience reliving this stupid.

[IronLionZion]

11. Somebody is selling them opiates for a profit

Not sure if that would apply for dangerous youtube pranks

[Blues Heron]

12. I think it's similar

Youtube makes money off this crap, people get an adrenaline rush off it , it's very addicting.

[Corvo Bianco]

36. Segments of the human race have always been stupid enough to die stupidly. Youtube shouldn't get

credit for human nature.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

55. People use opiates because American "christians" don't provide decent health care including mental.

[pirateshipdude]

56. There are a whole lot of reason people use opiates. Eom

[jberryhill]

26. People of less intelligence deserve to die

Or, say, people who voluntarily travel to an oppressive place like North Korea.

Do I understand you correctly?

[geek tragedy]

32. everyone dies some day.

traveling to a foreign country (unless it's Syria) also not the same as pointing a loaded gun at someone and firing because they think a book will stop a bullet. Like, maybe test that thesis first before acting as the target?

[IronLionZion]

35. Killing yourself is different than someone else killing you

It's not like someone is going around looking for simple minded people to kill off the weak ones to strengthen the herd.

The individuals involved chose to do this.

[jberryhill]

37. Person dies climbing Mount Everest

Very common headline.

Did they choose to attempt something that a lot of people die doing? Yes.

So, also Darwin or not Darwin?

[IronLionZion]

38. It's certainly not the mountain's fault

I would rather die while mountain climbing than by getting shot by a friend for a youtube prank

[jberryhill]

46. Either way, no one needs to do either risky thing

I'm going to assume that you have no mountain climbing experience, so that climbing Everest would be as foolhardy as the book thing.

But someone could easily not understand what it takes to make an Everest attempt, and just go off and try it. I don't see a distinction.

[IronLionZion]

48. We all make choices in life

Some choose to research and train for it. Some might be tempted by the prospect of fame or wealth. Or some may be pressured by someone. But it's not like someone came along and shot him out of spite. Or dropped him on a mountain. Who else is responsible for this?

I've made terrible choices in my life that cause people to judge me harshly.

What are you getting at?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. Killing yourself is the ultimate "dehumanizing". Doing it by stupidity is ugly.

The victim (of his own stupidity) dehumanized himself.

[pbmus]

27. Thought you were talking about the election...

Dehumanizing and ugly depth to such a callous joke.

[BannonsLiver]

28. And an element of truth.

[LanternWaste]

29. There's no better way to advertise our own cleverness

There's no better way to advertise our own self-defined cleverness than by pointing to someone else's mistakes.

Broadcast media has this down... reality shows allowing us the pretense that we're better than others.

Many DU posts follow that same formulate: dim the lights of others so ours shine that much more brightly.

[pablo_marmol]

33. "Many DU posts follow that same formulate....."

Truth. Thank you.

[Nitram]

45. Actually, Lantern, I think many of us find the Darwin Award concept amusing because we..

have all done really stupid things and feel very lucky to have survived. It's a "there but for the grace of god go I" kind of thing. Not an "I'm smarter because he was stupid" kind of thing.

[IronLionZion]

64. It could also be a deterrent

as a warning to others. People can learn from mistakes, even when it's someone else's mistakes.

Anytime I venture over to Freeperville or see any headline about our president I instantly feel very clever and better than others. For example: while we are making ourselves feel clever by looking down on this couple for a self-inflicted gun death in pursuit of fame and wealth, Freepers are saying these two deserve to die for being Latino. They claim there is no reason for Latinos to live in rural Minnesota or have a powerful .50 cal Desert Eagle designed to shoot through bulletproof things so they must be gang members. A Latino freeper called them out on it.

Pointing out that someone chose to have a dangerous weapon fired at his chest is quite different than claiming someone deserves to die. Some folks can't seem to understand that distinction.

[Nitram]

41. It is known as black humor. Some of us find it amusing what some humans will do to

impress other people. The "Here, hold my beer and watch this" syndrome. Look at it as a warning to young people not to risk their lives doing something really stupid. Nobody wants other people to think they are stupid. Might save some lives.

[IronLionZion]

44. Gashlycrumb Tinies

[melman]

63. I love the Gashlycrumb Tinies

But here's the thing. They're not real.

Joking about real people this way is not funny.

[Binkie The Clown]

53. Never forget that half the people in the world have below average I.Q.s

Natural selection has been at work for billions of years and isn't going to stop because some humans object to it.

[melman]

62. Yeah

Me too. I hate the whole 'Darwin Award' thing.

[RelativelyJones]

40. Well deserved?

[DetlefK]

4. From a heist-thriller with Gene Hackman: (forgot title)

- "There was this guy. He always had a Bible tucked in the pocket of his shirt. Thought it would save him. One day he got into a firefight and, wouldn't you believe it, he got hit into the chest and the Bible stopped the bullet."

- "Whoa! He lived?"

- "No, he got a second bullet to the face."

[FakeNoose]

50. I think it's from the French Connection

Yes?

[Nailzberg]

70. The heist movie you're thinking of is cleverly titled "The Heist"

[snooper2]

6. See, this is what happens when they cancel Mythbusters

Guess the idiot never got to watch this episode

[csziggy]

65. Yeah - Mythbusters covered it pretty well in 2010

And showed that "up to a 50 cal phone books stopped everything."

[ProfessorGAC]

67. Darn It

I should have read the thread before i posted a reply to the OP. I went the same place, Snooper.

[madaboutharry]

8. I would be surprised if the prosecutor gets a conviction.

I would think she gets a plea deal. There is nothing gained by sending her to prison.

[Iggo]

18. There's nothing gained by sending a whole ton of people to jail.

They do it anyway.

[thesquanderer]

20. re:"There is nothing gained by sending her to prison."

Well, it would keep another moron off the streets, that's something.

But yeah, though I don't know all the details, prison might not be the best resolution here.

[47of74]

9. Probably watched a little too much Sopranos

And thought the book in front of the chest thing worked in real life.

[Blue_Tires]

16. According to another story, Ruiz supposedly

shot a similar book in his backyard and the bullet didn't go all the way through, and that's how he got the idea for this youtube vid that maybe a few thousand would have watched if he was successful...

[47of74]

39. There was an episode where Phil Leotardo did a mock exection of Lorraine Calluzzo

He put a phone book on her chest and shot at her through the book, and the bullet didn't go all the way through. I'm wondering if that's where the idea came from in the first place.

[R Merm]

10. Doing this with any gun is stupid,

but doing this with a .50 caliber handgun as opposed to a .22 or even a .38 is beyond stupid.

[exboyfil]

13. A .50 caliber

They use that to kill boar don't they?

That would probably punch through a Kevlar vest.

[R Merm]

15. Yes it will

[Mosby]

51. You can kill a bear with a .50 cal.

[tblue37]

59. And she was just 2 or 3 feet away when she shot! nt

[obamanut2012]

57. JFC those can kill buffalo -- the cartridges are huge

The energy it generates is nuts.

[Blue_Tires]

14. Keep treating guns like toys and this outcome is as predictable as the sunrise...

Too bad he didn't set aside some of that jack he was burning on Gold Desert Eagles and ammo for life insurance...

[marylandblue]

17. He should have used War and Peace

[llmart]

25. LOL!

I don't know why that struck me as funny, though I doubt someone as stupid as this guy would have a copy of that lying around.

[IronLionZion]

49. or the US tax code

[HAB911]

19. Good guy with a gun!

[pablo_marmol]

34. "Good guy" with a tired cliche! NT

[bucolic_frolic]

21. Scientific Data

Scientists would have tested the book several times without a live human to obtain
data on the probability of such book acting as bulletproof vest.

But on the plus side, as you now know, this encyclopedia book proves there are holes in knowledge!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

23. I allas sayed book larnin' has its limits. . . . nt

[Nitram]

42. I hate to break it to you, Bernardo...

"Book Larnin'" don't mean using a book as a bullet-proof vest.

[Vogon_Glory]

24. This Shtick Might Have Worked In The Nineteenth Century

But even non-enthusiasts like me know that 19th century blackpowder bullets had slower muzzle velocities.

Death by misadventure. Stunts like this should be left to the history books.

[Gothmog]

30. Darwin awards for this year have a clear winner

[Vinca]

31. Trump voter??

[NCjack]

43. Not voting again, unless the Russians assist him. nt

[DavidDvorkin]

47. He is indeed now a YouTube star.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

68. Sadly ironic, but YouTube would probably delete/block this video.

Or, I hope they would.

So much for stardom.

[Binkie The Clown]

52. Darwin's work is never done.

Next big headline: Mankind thought global warming was no big deal. Now they're extinct.

[moonscape]

54. Tragic - just a kid n/t

[RelativelyJones]

58. Yes.

[xor]

60. Yeah, that's upsetting. Had he just managed to get through a couple more years then

maybe he would have developed some common sense that told him this is a bad idea. I'm not sure if people are becoming slower to develop this common sense, but I don't recall being that dumb at 19. But over the past few years I've interacted with a fair share of people around that age and was always amazed about how they didn't seem too fond of critical thinking. Maybe I'm just getting old.

[ileus]

61. More testing before the stunt may have helped.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

69. Even if the book stops a bullet, there's a good test:

Test: hold the book to your chest, have some big guy hit it with a sledgehammer.

That should approximate a "successful" bullet stoppage.

[ProfessorGAC]

66. Must Have Not Seen The Mythbusters Episode

They tried that with a cigarette lighter, eyeglass case, and a novel. Stopped almost nothing. Now, multiple phone books worked to bullet proof a car, but he missed that episode too.