Teen shot in head during home invasion prank ...

**David2012** · 10-17-2012, 02:20 AM

This is a head scratcher...you're gonna go, WTF!

8 teenage boys were having a weekend sleep over in a unoccupied home belonging to one of the boys grandmother. About 2;30 am, a several of them decided to prank the others into thinking there was some kind of home invasion going on. They cut the lights and then as some of the boys were looking for the breaker box, one boy jumped out of a closet to scare them. That is when one of the other boys was startled, pulled a .38 and shot the kid coming out of the closet in the head.

The local Sheriff called it a tragic prank that went wrong and no charges will be filed. My question would be why in the world would a teenage boy be carrying a .38 revolver at a weekend sleep over???? I don't know about their state, but in Oklahoma wouldn't it would be a crime for a teen to have possession of a loaded pistol? And wouldn't the parent[s] be guilty of a crime if it was their gun? Sure a lot of questions not answered in this story. I just find it very hard to believe that this is simply being written off as a prank gone wrong and no charges will be filed. If it was my kid that had been shot, I'd be raising bloody hell!

Teen Shot in Head During Home Invasion Prank

By Alyssa Newcomb
Oct 14, 2012 5:14pm
A 15-year-old Alabama boy is in critical condition today after he was shot in the head by a friend during prank that police said went terribly wrong.

Jesse Rainey, 15, and seven male friends were spending the weekend at an unoccupied home that belonged to the grandmother of one of the boys, when a few of the teens decided to prank their friends by faking a home intrusion, Colbert County Sheriff Ronnie May told ABCNews.com.
“One of the young men cut the lights to the house, then a few of the other guys snuck back inside, wanting their friends to believe there was an intruder,” May said.

The teens were in the process of using flashlights to find the switch box, when Rainey jumped out of a closet.

His rattled friend immediately dropped a video game and fired a shot into Rainey’s head with a .38 caliber hand gun.

May called the shooting “accidental” and said after interviewing all of the boys and conferring with the district attorney’s office, no charges will be filed. Drugs and alcohol were also not a factor in the shooting.

The teens called 911 at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Dispatchers were unable to find the home, which is off the beaten path, on a map, so the boys put Rainey in the bed of a pickup truck and drove him 10 minutes to a Midway convenience store. They were met there by sheriff’s deputies and a medical team, May said.

Rainey was taken to Helen Keller Hospital, where he was stabilized before being transferred to the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Ala.

May said the boys are all close friends who attend Colbert Heights High School together.
“This was a prank that went terribly wrong,” he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headline...nvasion-prank/

**scooby13dew** · 10-17-2012, 02:28 AM

what was a teen doing with a 38?

**68mustang** · 10-17-2012, 03:46 AM

I'm guessing gun was grannys?

**dennishoddy** · 10-17-2012, 06:10 AM

My kids owned rifles, shotguns and pistols at that age.
Couldn't buy ammo.

**MLRyan** · 10-17-2012, 08:09 AM

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

**reddog1** · 10-17-2012, 08:09 AM

Very sad. Prayers go out to all involved.

**Dave70968** · 10-17-2012, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by David2012

This is a head scratcher...you're gonna go, WTF!

8 teenage boys were having a weekend sleep over in a unoccupied home belonging to one of the boys grandmother. About 2;30 am, a several of them decided to prank the others into thinking there was some kind of home invasion going on. They cut the lights and then as some of the boys were looking for the breaker box, one boy jumped out of a closet to scare them. That is when one of the other boys was startled, pulled a .38 and shot the kid coming out of the closet in the head.

The local Sheriff called it a tragic prank that went wrong and no charges will be filed. My question would be why in the world would a teenage boy be carrying a .38 revolver at a weekend sleep over???? I don't know about their state, but in Oklahoma wouldn't it would be a crime for a teen to have possession of a loaded pistol? And wouldn't the parent[s] be guilty of a crime if it was their gun? Sure a lot of questions not answered in this story. I just find it very hard to believe that this is simply being written off as a prank gone wrong and no charges will be filed. If it was my kid that had been shot, I'd be raising bloody hell!

If it was your kid that had been shot, you'd be a failure as a parent for not teaching him good sense.

**Perplexed** · 10-17-2012, 09:13 AM

Originally Posted by Dave70968

If it was your kid that had been shot, you'd be a failure as a parent for not teaching him good sense.

Why is that? I don't think any kids pulling a scare prank like this, inside a home with a bunch of their friends, expect to get shot. If anything, you should be questioning the parents of the kid who did the shooting.

**MLRyan** · 10-17-2012, 09:22 AM

I blame Call of Honor:Medal of Duty

**Dave70968** · 10-17-2012, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by Perplexed

Why is that? I don't think any kids pulling a scare prank like this, inside a home with a bunch of their friends, expect to get shot. If anything, you should be questioning the parents of the kid who did the shooting.

You think making somebody believe that he's been the victim of a potentially-violent felony is a "prank?" That's the failure of good sense: the "pranksters" didn't think through the potential consequences of making their subject believe he was the victim of a home invasion.

I realize this was in Alabama, but let's look at it in the context of Oklahoma law.

§21-1289.25. Physical or deadly force against intruder.
PHYSICAL OR DEADLY FORCE AGAINST INTRUDER
A. The Legislature hereby recognizes that the citizens of the State of Oklahoma have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes or places of business.
B. A person or an owner, manager or employee of a business is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:
1. The person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, occupied vehicle, or a place of business, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against the will of that person from the dwelling, residence, occupied vehicle, or place of business; and
2. The person who uses defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.
<emphasis mine>

Pay close attention to the boldface parts. The Legislature has affirmatively found that A) one has a right to expect absolute safety in his home, and B) that if somebody breaks into your home, you're presumed to have a reasonable fear for your safety. You're not required to ask your invader his intent, or wait for him to start waving a gun at you; when you see him unlawfully in your home, you get to act first.

The mental midgets in question deliberately and willfully created in the shooter's mind the impression that he was in a home invasion. This brilliant decision caused the shooter to fear for his life--reasonably, in the eyes of the Legislature, and frankly, anybody with a lick of sense--and to act accordingly. I will grant you that they were not unlawful invaders for the purpose of section (B)(1); however, section (B) would be fundamentally pointless if the law imposed a duty to ask "hey, are you a real home invader, or just a dumbass playing pranks?" before defending oneself. The shooter, reasonably believing he was the subject of a home invasion (remember, creating that belief that was the other kids' stated intent), responded accordingly. If my kid responded the same way, I'd be proud of him for acting in his own--and potentially my--defense.

The decedent should be buried in a hermetically-sealed coffin to make sure none of his aggravated stupidity seeps into the groundwater.

**Perplexed** · 10-17-2012, 10:32 AM

I'll grant that a response through the discharge of a firearm in response to what the shooter believes is a home invasion may be construed as reasonable - if the shooter is alone. If the person doing the shooting is in a house with seven other kids, prudence is called for before discharging the firearm, no matter the situation. What if this kid had been home with his family, and his sibling jumped out of the closet in a dark room with the intention of scaring him? Would the kid have shot the sibling? Or if there had indeed been a home invasion, and one of his parents came running to round up the kids - and got shot? I think that, if anything, the kid was negligent to some degree in that he was too hasty to discharge his firearm before ascertaining whether the other person was friend or foe - he was not aware enough of his surroundings before popping off a round.

But as has been the case in pretty much all other discussions of similar situations, "you just had to be there" so I'll refrain from going any further in making a judgement.

**milsurp2.0** · 10-17-2012, 10:46 AM

Sounds like hogwash to me. He had enough time to realize what was going on. He thought he was going to be cute and pop one off next to the kids head. Reminds me of something that happened to my cousin. Him and a buddy were squirrel hunting when this "buddy" thought he was going to be cool and scare my cousin by turning around shooting the ground between his feet. Only it didnt work out like that. Getting shot through the top of the foot with a 4-10 is very painful from what I could tell by the screams in the hospital when Nurse ratchet was running that bore brush through the hole in my cousin's foot.

**Dave70968** · 10-17-2012, 10:47 AM

There's a world of difference between jumping out of a closet and deliberately manufacturing a situation to mimic a home invasion, which I stress again was the "pranksters'" stated intent. A much more apt comparison would be jumping out of an alley with a rubber knife in my hand to make the victim think he was being mugged. They intended to make him feel like the victim of a crime. He reacted as the victim of a crime could reasonably be expected to react. They got what they wanted, just more of it than they planned for.

**David2012** · 10-17-2012, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Perplexed

Why is that? I don't think any kids pulling a scare prank like this, inside a home with a bunch of their friends, expect to get shot. If anything, you should be questioning the parents of the kid who did the shooting.

+1!

15-17 year old boys shouldn't be carrying revolvers in their pockets. Heck, there are some adults posting on this forum that probably shouldn't be carrying guns either for that matter.. given some of their posts.

According to the story, it wasn't completely dark inside the house.. as the boys had flashlights they were using to try and find the breaker box. Since the story reads that the shooter had dropped his video game and drawn his weapon.. then fired... I'd think he had time and should have been able to recognize someone he went to school with and called his friend. After all, we are taught to be sure of our target [and what is down range of it] before shooting.

**68mustang** · 10-17-2012, 12:02 PM

where did you see it was in his pocket??? How do you know he didn't have a video game in one hand and a gun in the other? So what if this kid didn't have a flashlight? If he had a gun in one hand and a video game in the other, where would he hold a flashlight? You've never been scared by someone jumping out at you and you reacting by punching them or pushing them away? The kid jumps out and this guy reacts. There were other dummies that were in on it as well and you'd think they'd call the prank off when they noticed their friend had a weapon.