Cops in door-to-door manhunt for two young boys after Georgia baby murdered in cold blood

[wyldwolf]

Pardon the bluntness of this thread title but just damn.

Police in a small town in southeastern Georgia are going door-to-door in search of two young boys who fatally shot a 13-month-old baby boy and wounded his mother Thursday after a robbery went awry.

Sherry West, a resident of Brunswick, Ga., said she was walking her son, Antonio, in his stroller Thursday morning when two young males demanded that she turn over all her money to them.

“He said, ‘I am going to kill you if you don’t give me your money,’” West told KMOV-TV.

When she told them that she didn’t have any money to give them, one of the boys shot West in her leg.

The man then said, “I am going to kill your baby,” and shot the infant in the head.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/cops-hunt-young-boys-baby-mom-shooting-article-1.1296312?localLinksEnabled=false

This is one of those stories that doesn't sound true. But if it is, the perps, their parents, and whoever gave them access to the gun are all responsible.

THESE situations are why this DU group exists.

[BainsBane]

1. OMG

[rdharma]

2. I say hmmmmm!

Something strange here!

[wyldwolf]

3. yes, hmmm. But we have to give the mother the benefit of the slightest doubt.

[rdharma]

5. That's why I only said...... "hmmmmmm"!

I'd be looking at genetic father or new boyfriend as suspects .........with mom's complicity.

[nonoyes]

4. If only the baby had been packing a gun!

In the 30+ years since John Lennon's death, only a little over a million people have been killed in America with guns.

The NRA is "shooting for" 2+ million in the next 30 years.

[slackmaster]

6. I think the only realistic approach to preventing that kind of thing is education

Many states already have laws that make it a crime to fail to prevent a child from getting and using a firearm to injure or kill someone, but punishment after the fact doesn't prevent the event. Only by drilling into people who own guns the importance of securing them can government do something proactively about unauthorized access by children.

Unfortunately there will always be stupid, negligent, careless, and irresponsible people out there.

This is one of those stories that doesn't sound true.

I've seen several similar comments about that story, and I agree that it sounds outrageous but we see outrageous stories in the news every day.

[Hoyt]

7. "Will always be stupid. . . ." Hardly an endorsement of more guns, and less control.

I'm afraid the majority of gun owners don't have capacity to learn dangers of their enthusiasm for lethal weapons.

[CreekDog]

8. you can't even support a law about arming minors?

heaven forbid.

[wyldwolf]

10. So you're saying there should be no punishment for crimes...

... because the punishment after the fact doesn't prevent the event?

Really?

[slackmaster]

11. No, I didn't say anything like that.

I'm all fine with using the stick portion of the justice system to punish malum in se crimes, but that is not the only way to address this kind of problem.

Whenever something outrageous happens, we always see knee-jerk reactions on DU that suggest imposing more power over people - Make it a crime. If it's already a crime, make it more of a crime. When someone misuses something, take the freedom to have that thing away from all the people who didn't misuse it.

More government. More taxes. More power. But there are often alternatives that are cost-efficient, don't erode liberty, and are not exclusive of also having just punishments for acts that are inherently bad.

[wyldwolf]

13. yes you did

"I think the only realistic approach to preventing that kind of thing is education. Many states already have laws that make it a crime to fail to prevent a child from getting and using a firearm to injure or kill someone, but punishment after the fact doesn't prevent the event."

So there should be no punishment? Or were you merely pointing out the obvious - that punishment doesn't change the past. If the former, why? If the latter, why even bring it up?

[slackmaster]

14. Saying punishment doesn't prevent the crime is not the same as saying there should be no punishment

That seems pretty obvious to me.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. 300 million guns in homes, what could possibly go wrong.

Nations that are serious about preventing gun crimes and gun injuries have strict regulation including regulation of how guns may be stored in homes. These regulations seem to work, and the countries that have these regulations have not, oddly enough, turned into fascist regimes out of the 1930s.

This is not solved by education. It is solved by regulation.

[Tx4obama]

9. UPDATE: Two youths arrested in shooting death of Georgia baby

Two youths arrested in shooting death of Georgia baby

Brunswick, Georgia (CNN) -- Two teenagers have been arrested in the shooting death of a 13-month-old boy who was in his stroller, according to police in Brunswick, Georgia.

The suspects are a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy, Police Chief Tobe Green told reporters Friday. He said they are being held on suspicion of first-degree murder.

"We are turning every stone to get a motive," said Green.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/us/georgia-baby-killed/index.html

[freshwest]

15. Thanks, Tx4obama. So much for the Susan Smith angle.

The real question wil be where did those teenagers get the guns, and why were they robbing and shooting in the first place. That situation resulted in loss of this child and the grief of his mother.