Debate Should a minor be charged...

At my school on September 22nd, 2004, a student brought a gun to school to commit suicide by police. He was shot three times by SWAT team members and was in critical condition for a long time, now, they wish to chage him as an adult and sentence him for 30 years... We have begun a petition, yet no one believes it will really help in this situation. The first time interviewed, police reported that he had headed for his gun and as a "reflex" shot him in the jaw, right arm, and in the abdomin. now, about the fifth interview, the say he approached them saying "I'm going to kill you all" and pointed the gun at them and that they shot in self-defense.

Do any of you agree that bringing a weapon to school with no intetional harm to others desirves 30 years of imprisonment?

~~Aiko~~

 

How old was he? If 16 or 17, I'd definitely want him to get some jail time. Guns have NO place in school, whatever their intentions are. 30 *might* be a bit high, but not by too much.

 

It would seem that this event has not even taken place yet. Have you got the year wrong?

Anyway it would seem that the kid needs mental help not a 30 year jail sentance.

I believe that children should be treated as adults. If their stupit enough to bring a gun to school or even get there hands on a gun then i think that their old enough to be trialed as adults.

 

Its a shame they didn't kill him. Psycho's like that who willingly put the lives of innocent civilians in jeapordy like that just because they have an inkling to go out with a bang have no place in this world.

Whatever happened to staying at home, pressing the gun up to his temple and pulling the trigger? That would have made more sense.

I think its naive to say he had no intention of hurting other people the moment he walked into school with a GUN! Guns are meant to kill... not scare, not hurt, Kill. Kudo's to your police department for intending to lock him away for good, but if I were a member of that SWAT team, I would have emptied my clip into that punk.

 

how in **** did he put the lives of others in jeapordy?

o.0.. stupidity is a requirement of adulthood now?

 

He brought a gun to school. I thought we established that.

 

uh ..huh...

now.. stay with me here, who exactly was he planning on using the gun against?
other students? no
teachers? no

himself? yes.

he probably picked the school to make a final statement with his death, he was obviously depressed and wanted people to know why, *shrug*.

 

Yes, but it was also established that it was brought with the intent of suicide. He didn't intend to harm others, only himself. Unless I'm completely wrong.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't buy that. Regardless of why he brought it to school, the fact is that he brought it to school. If he *truly* wanted to kill himself, he could have done it in the privacy of his own home, where no one would have seen it and he would be guaranteed a success.

Instead, he brought it to school with some twisted intent to create a spectacle or "make a statement." What, was he going to jump on a table in the cafeteria and do it? If so, he could have misfired and hit someone else.

Or, if he wanted to die by police as was said earlier, a stray bullet could very easily have hit an innocent bystander.

He brought the gun to school with the thought, whether sincere or not, that he wanted to die. He didn't die, and so he should be punished.

 

And that is why i think that they should be tryed as adults. If that was not the point you were trying to get across.

Even if he did not intend on endangering the other students, it was still not worth that chance. He could still have changed his mind and turned on anyone. And if they try him like an adult then it will make a show so as to teach other idiots what will happen if you do this.

 

you people are treating this like he made a rational decision to do this, he was depressed for crying out loud. he was not thinking clearly, he was emotional, suicidal, looking for attention.. possibly crying out for help for however long before this but NO ONE CARED or noticed, and now you want him lynched?

 

If the kid was messed up enough to bring a gun to school with the intent to commit suicide, how much prodding do you think he needs to turn that same gun on some else? As a former student of juvenile delingquency, I can say, "Very, very, very little." It only takes the passing of a thought to go from wanting to kill only himself to deciding he wants to take a few people with him. However that is a moot point. As a current intern working in a rather large police department in Illinois, who has the chance to spend a week with an actual SWAT team, its very unlikely that the team would have shot if he didn't aim at them. In aiming at them, he put their lives in danger.

Who knows, though? Who knows what he was actually thinking? But the fact remains, that boy brought a gun, an instrument of death, to his school and placed everyone in danger.

 

in the right hands.. a chopstick is an instrument of death... please do not romanticise this.

the kid should be treated, helped. not demonised.

 

He didn't intend when he brought it in to kill someone with it.

It would have taken one "the passing of a thought" to turn it on someone else.


By that logic, a suicidal student who brings his car to school is incredibly dangerous...

 

Most of my schooling (in fact until I got to college), I could be classified as the proverbial lonely, depressed kid. I had very few friends, and those I did have spent very little time or attention on me. I even thought about commiting suicide once or twice. If for no other reason than to get attention. Guess what? I didn't. Guess what? I never EVEN fathomed the possiblity that I should bring a gun to school. So do I want this nutcase lynched? You betcha'. He had no right to put the people involved through that ordeal, even if he wasn't
"thinking clearly." How do you think the SWAT team member's feel? Even if the boy was asking for it, it still must have been pure agony for them to down a kid.

 

If he was trying to commit suicide then that means he probably has a lot of mental issues. Right now he needs psychiatric help, not jail.

 

Gun = shooting and killing things

Chopstick = eating curry

Trust me, I am not romanticising. Theres a TINY difference in the purpose of these instruments. Say he threatened to kill himself with a chopstick, or a knife for that matter, would the SWAT team have been called in? Not a chance. If he did, then fine, I agree he should get psychological help. But he didn't. He brought a gun, a tool with the soul purpose to kill.

 

that's it.. right there.. in a nutshell.

punishment can come later sure, but for now he needs help.

 

no, guns can wound or main also..

it doesn't matter for what purpose a tool was created, what matters is the use to which it is put.

 

Not really. I think that bringing a gun to school period deserves some kind of punishment - accidents do happen and someone could've been hurt besides that student. Not to mention there's emotional damage in being through something like that, and in that sense he probably did harm people. But a suicidal person is CLEARLY not thinking logically, and needs help.

Oh, that's a nice thought. Lovely show of sympathy.

I SINCERELY hope you never go into a law enforcement career. Did it occur to you that there's more to this than the surface events?

A person who attempts to commit suicide in public is usually crying out for help. If they genuinely just wanted to die, they'd do it in private where no one could stop them. The people who repeatedly say they'll kill themselves, who put their problems on display by waving a gun around and saying they want to die - they want HELP. They may not know how to get it otherwise, and may not be able to actually say "I feel horrible, I need someone to care." That's what it's about. They want to be stopped, and they want someone to care enough about them to say "don't do it."

If he didn't shoot at anyone, I think this was just a stunt to bring attention to his problem and make people take him seriously. That doesn't make it any less stupid, irresponsible, dangerous, or selfish - but it doesn't justify "It's a shame he isn't dead" statements.

As someone who's lived through depression, believe me - you do STUPID things. You don't care about yourself, let alone other people, and even if you realize you're making a bad choice, you don't always see why you should care about that either. And then, if you get over the depression, you think, "What the HELL was I thinking?!" This kid needs help, whether in the form of councelling, medication, or just getting involved with something meaningful. A little prison time might be justified, but since I don't have specific details about what happened, that's about all I can say.