He'd Be a Hero in Texas

[Uncle Sparky]

four boys, not able to find the right house? TOTALLY Credible

I remember once passing out in the back seat of my car when a somewhat-more-sober friend tried to drive 3 of us late teens home. I was awaken by him asking, "We're not supposed to go through Customs, are we?" At the time, I lived about 2½ hour from the US border. I drove us back.

Never got invited to parties in high school though...

Why does this not surprise me? Stayed at home polishing your pistol, right?

[MrFun]

Why does this not surprise me? Stayed at home polishing your pistol, right?

I'm surprised he's never been hired for an episode of Criminal Minds to be a perfect psychopath character.

[Hauldren Collider]

American suburbs are dens of mundane conformity, especially in the south. It's no surprise that he couldn't even tell it wasn't his house after entering it.

This is true--many houses in my neighborhood have nearly identical floorplans, although after about 13 years of existence with roughly 16 houses in the neighborhood, remodeling and interior decorating and exterior painting and landscaping have caused significant divergence. But I can totally see a kid in a new subdivision in Loudoun County, which is growing rapidly with large cookie cutter suburban neighborhoods, not realizing it wasn't his house.

[giblets]

You're not human are you? Or it that you lack any sense of morality?

He already offered clarification that should have resolved any confusion resulting from his poor choice of words. You're just incredibly dense, aren't you?

[MichaeltheGreat]

I disagree that someone loses their rights the minute they become intoxicated. His getting drunk wasn't the smartest of choices, but he certainly didn't deserve to die for it.

He didn't "deserve" to die, but it's a foreseeable consequence of being so ****ing drunk you can't recognize your own house, so you sneak into someone else's house in the middle of the night by mistake.

[MichaeltheGreat]

In the dark with an alarm going off and an unknown person that has come through the window, how do you gauge proportionate?

Empty the mother****ing clip.

[SlowwHand]

I'm not going to read all the crap that I'm sure occupies this thread and just cut to the core. If you don't like Texas, stay the hell away. Likely, we don't like you either.

[Dinner]

He didn't "deserve" to die, but it's a foreseeable consequence of being so ****ing drunk you can't recognize your own house, so you sneak into someone else's house in the middle of the night by mistake.

He should have just slept at a friend's house and told his parents in the morning.

[MichaeltheGreat]

They don't. That was exaggeration.

That's Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. They start lapping up **** the moment they walk into the recruiting office.

[Alexander's Horse]

How often do unarmed people break into an occupied dwelling in Australia?

Often because the way the law works, if you are armed the sentence is a lot heavier.

Thinking it over, the context is totally different in the US because of the availability of hand guns. If someone came through your window at night in the US you would probably have to assume they were armed.

[MichaeltheGreat]

It's a bit similar in the US vis-a-vis charging and sentencing. Each state is different, but use (meaning at a minimum possession during the commission of the underlying offense) of a firearm while committing various felonies is either a separate felony, or an enhancement to the underlying felony. Also, breaking into an occupied residence is generally a higher degree of crime than breaking into an unoccupied residence, which is by far the norm in burglaries.

[PLATO]

A terrible tragedy. I feel both for the boy's parents and for the shooter. The parents for the horrible loss they experienced. The shooter for the undoubted remorse and guilt he must feel. Home invasions are traumatic events and a homeowner definately should have the right to protect themselves and their property. This is just a terribly unfortunate event for all involved.

[MichaeltheGreat]

You'd never confuse which house you lived in. Just which sheep you'd been doing.

[SlowwHand]

MOBIUS is just being his sad and pathetic self.

[Kidlicious]

maybe when you have teens of your own you will understand, that mistake should not have cost a young life

I don't know why it matters that he was a teen. Teens do a lot of crime and horrible stuff. This one sounds like he might have been a bad seed anyway, not that I'm glad this happened to him, but I'm not sad that a TEEN died.