[Janq]

Very often we are told or hear from friends and the internet about what not to do with our firearm.
But whats often missing is 'proof' toward why.

For example the admonition to _always_ be aware of your background. Do not shoot warning shots neither in the air nor at the ground. Never take a knife ot a gun fight, never ever sleep on a knifeman when in a <fill in the blank fight>, and don't trust a strange dog anymore than you can throw him off your leg or arm.

Well this is a thread detailing 'News' stories toward just these types of scenario.
If you're wondering why I'm doing this think of it as a public service for those of us who don't know better or who have forgotten. Also its education for those new to firearms who 's only instruction or education support came by the way of a trip to the backyard with Uncle Jesse to take some wild shots at a pumpkin or old car whilst drinking Bud Light.

Enjoy the reading and feel free to discuss.
As I run across stuff I'll be updating this thread as I can and to keep it super simple I'll bold the parts in each story where the bad decision making came to fore.

- Janq

 

[Janq]

Jury Acquits Iraq War Veteran Of Shooting Into Crowd

As reported today by WCBTV-5 Boston:

Jury Acquits Iraq War Veteran Of Shooting Into Crowd
Two Injured In Shooting

POSTED: 3:41 pm EDT June 29, 2006
UPDATED: 4:05 pm EDT June 29, 2006

SALEM, Mass. -- A jury deliberated just two hours Thursday before finding an Iraq war veteran acted in self-defense when he fired a shotgun into a group of club-goers outside his Lawrence home, injuring two people.

The Salem Superior Court jury acquitted Marine Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir, a 34-year-old reservist named last year's "Marine of the Year," of two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting last August.

Cotnoir, a married father with two young daughters, had rejected an earlier plea deal. He could have faced up to 20 years in prison. He stood stoically and showed no emotions as the verdicts were read.

Prosecutor John Dawley had urged jurors not to "give him extra points because he was in Iraq."

"He is basically a good guy," Dawley said. "But this is not a case about making someone a bad guy. Good people do bad things. Good people occasionally have monumental lapses of judgment."

Defense attorney Robert Lewin asked jurors to put themselves in Cotnoir's shoes, noting a bottle was thrown through Cotnoir's bedroom window at about 3 a.m. while his children slept upstairs.

"You really have to try to put yourself in his room that night," Lewin said. "How do you think you'd feel?"

Lewin also pointed to a prior incident during which someone fired a gun at Cotnoir's house.

"Consider not only what happened that morning, but also the history of violence in that parking lot," he said.

Cotnoir, who served eight months in Iraq in 2004, helped create a mortician's unit for the Marine Corps, for which he was credited in winning the Marine of the Year award. He and his wife, Mary Kate, accepted the award in Washington, D.C., one month before the shooting.

Cotnoir's house, which is also his family's funeral parlor, overlooks a parking lot that sits across from two nightclubs. After the clubs let out at 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2005, revelers cranked their music and were singing and dancing.

Cotnoir testified he felt "under attack" after a bottle was thrown through his window minutes after he called police to complain. He said he was in fear of his family's safety when he grabbed a rifle and fired a shot into what he said was a clear area.

The shell struck a curb and shattered into fragments, striking Kevin Castillo, 21, and Lissette Cumba, 15, both of Lowell.

The story can be found at http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/9448380/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=news

- Janq

 

[Janq]

NEWS - Mother: Eureka shooting was accidental

As reported tocay by The Daily Inter Lake:

Mother: Eureka shooting was accidental
Posted: Tuesday, Jun 27, 2006 - 11:45:58 pm PDT

By CHERY SABOL
The Daily Inter Lake nd The Associated Press

A grieving Eureka mother wants people to know that her teenage son accidentally killed himself and another teenager last weekend.

Jacob Lee, 19, of Eureka, and Lorena Mocko, 16, died after the 1 a.m. shooting on a Tobacco Road home Saturday.

Lee’s mother, Sheri Lee, said her son’s death was accidental and not a suicide, as it has been called.

She desperately hopes that parents will talk to their children about the dangers of mixing alcohol and guns, she said.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Lee died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The bullet reportedly passed through his body and struck Mocko, also killing her.

Detective Darren Short of the Sheriff’s Office is investigating the tragedy.

“There’s probably not, at this point” any reason to think the shooting wasn’t accidental, Short said Tuesday.

He went to the state crime lab in Missoula for the autopsies on the two teenagers.

Lee said her son and two friends were target practicing Saturday. Later, a group of teenagers wound up at a party in a house south of Eureka. Witnesses at the party told Lee that Jacob — thinking it was empty after target practice — took out his gun and started playing with it.

One of the teens told him, “Jake, don’t play with that gun like that.” The teens said he responded, “Why not? It’s not loaded.”

Then he pulled the trigger and died instantly. Mocko reportedly died soon afterward.

The county coroner “used the word suicide,” contradicting what witnesses saw, Lee said.

“He’s never been suicidal,” Lee said of Jacob. “He’s a very happy-go-lucky young man.”

Jacob was born in Whitefish and raised in Eureka on the Spiritual Sky Ranch, which offers trail rides.

He worked in home construction and lived in a home in town before his death, Lee said.

She is a proud mother, describing her son.

“He was a genius cowboy mechanic” who could build a car by age 9 and make it run, she said.

She wants people to know that Jacob’s death was accidental, not intentional, and to warn other youths.

“Alcohol and guns don’t mix. You don’t play with guns,” Lee said. “It’s an important message.”

A memorial service is planned for Jacob Lee at the Spiritual Sky Ranch Thursday at 4 p.m. It is open to the public.

Jeri Mitchell, a close friend of Mocko’s mother, described the shooting as “just a total freak thing.”

Mocko, who was studying to become a paramedic, was born in Whitefish but had lived in Fernie most of her life with her mother, Laura Abrahamsen, and four siblings, Mitchell said. Her father, David Mocko, lives in Eureka.

“She was beautiful,” Mitchell said. “Absolutely beautiful, inside and out. This is so bad. Tragic. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mitchell said Mocko had friends and a boyfriend in Eureka and was in town visiting when she was shot.

Lee was not known as one of Mocko’s contacts, and likely just happened to be at the same house party that night, Mitchell said.

Mocko’s remains were being returned to Fernie on Tuesday. Funeral services for Mocko are scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Fernie Baptist Church.

The story can be found at; http://www.dailyinterlake.com/articles/2006/06/28/news/news02.txt

- Janq

Note: I'm posting this as a reminder to everyone to remember the basic rules of firearm safety.
* Guns and alcohol/drugs/impaired thought do not mix.
* It's _always_ loaded.
* Do not play with or point guns at anything you would not have a problem with destroying by 'accident'.

* As suggested and reminded by Jamz...Always be aware of your background in the event you hit or miss.

 

[jamz]

Would you like this to be a news only, no commentary thread?

 

[Janq]

Would you like this to be a news only, no commentary thread?

Folks can comment if and as they wish.
Myself I'll just keep to postign news items and highlighting the bonehead parts and let the story do the talking.

None of this stuff hasn't been reviewed umpteen times before but unlike the tales of my brothers best friends uncles buddy from work once did <fill in the blank>, these items pulled from the news might help folks better realize that dumb can happen to anyone if their slippin.
This is kind of along the lines of the negligent discharge thread from 2 months ago which IMHO was very good/useful.

- Janq

 

[MrMcCrackin]

Re: Jury Acquits Iraq War Veteran Of Shooting Into Crowd

As reported today by WCBTV-5 Boston:

Jury Acquits Iraq War Veteran Of Shooting Into Crowd
Two Injured In Shooting

POSTED: 3:41 pm EDT June 29, 2006
UPDATED: 4:05 pm EDT June 29, 2006

SALEM, Mass. -- A jury deliberated just two hours Thursday before finding an Iraq war veteran acted in self-defense when he fired a shotgun into a group of club-goers outside his Lawrence home, injuring two people.

The Salem Superior Court jury acquitted Marine Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir, a 34-year-old reservist named last year's "Marine of the Year," of two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the shooting last August.

Cotnoir, a married father with two young daughters, had rejected an earlier plea deal. He could have faced up to 20 years in prison. He stood stoically and showed no emotions as the verdicts were read.

Prosecutor John Dawley had urged jurors not to "give him extra points because he was in Iraq."

"He is basically a good guy," Dawley said. "But this is not a case about making someone a bad guy. Good people do bad things. Good people occasionally have monumental lapses of judgment."

Defense attorney Robert Lewin asked jurors to put themselves in Cotnoir's shoes, noting a bottle was thrown through Cotnoir's bedroom window at about 3 a.m. while his children slept upstairs.

"You really have to try to put yourself in his room that night," Lewin said. "How do you think you'd feel?"

Lewin also pointed to a prior incident during which someone fired a gun at Cotnoir's house.

"Consider not only what happened that morning, but also the history of violence in that parking lot," he said.

Cotnoir, who served eight months in Iraq in 2004, helped create a mortician's unit for the Marine Corps, for which he was credited in winning the Marine of the Year award. He and his wife, Mary Kate, accepted the award in Washington, D.C., one month before the shooting.

Cotnoir's house, which is also his family's funeral parlor, overlooks a parking lot that sits across from two nightclubs. After the clubs let out at 2 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2005, revelers cranked their music and were singing and dancing.

Cotnoir testified he felt "under attack" after a bottle was thrown through his window minutes after he called police to complain. He said he was in fear of his family's safety when he grabbed a rifle and fired a shot into what he said was a clear area.

The shell struck a curb and shattered into fragments, striking Kevin Castillo, 21, and Lissette Cumba, 15, both of Lowell.

The story can be found at http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/9448380/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=news

- Janq

hey janq -

nothing against your post - but rather the news reporter:

Iraq war veteran acted in self-defense when he fired a shotgun into a group of club-goers

fear of his family's safety when he grabbed a rifle and fired a shot into what he said was a clear area


so - which was it?

a rifle or a shotgun?


and how does a "shell" hit the ground and injur 2 people?



ok - im off my high horse now.

 

[Janq]

Yeah, I hate it when reporters who obviously know zero about thier subject write stories that make little if any sense, unbeknownst to anyone but a reader who is familiar with the subject matter.

- Janq

 

[einzelherz]

Yeah, I hate it when reporters who obviously know zero about thier subject write stories that make little if any sense, unbeknownst to anyone but a reader who is familiar with the subject matter.

- Janq

and i hate it when people assume reporters aren't just given a job to report on and couldn't care less about the topic.