Sunday, January 03, 2016

Investigation into whether shooting 'ding dong ditching' teenager multiple times was justified

A 14-year-old boy from Pryor, Oklahoma, is out of surgery after being shot several times by his neighbour who has not been arrested. Police said the teen and two of his friends were ringing doorbells and running off early on New Year's Day when the homeowner came out to his front yard and started firing. The case has been handed over to the district attorney who is looking into whether the shooting was justified.



The call went out as a home invasion, but when police got to the scene they quickly heard a different story. Police said the three boys did not try to break into the home. "Currently, the investigation suggests that the juveniles were engaged in neighborhood pranks and not attempting to break into the residence," said Chief of Police Steven W. Lemmings. Cole Peyton is a freshman at Pryor High School.



Pryor Police said he and two friends were walking through Peyton's neighbourhood at around 1:30 on New Year's morning, ringing some doorbells and running off, when the prank resulted in gunshots.Samantha Perry lives down the street and saw the teens earlier in the night. She didn't hear the shots fired but saw the sirens. "I mean, that's just kids being kids right there, I don't think there should've been anything like that involved," she said. Lemmings said the teens were trespassing on the man's property when he fired several shots while outside his home.



"The investigation now centres around whether the homeowner's use of deadly force was lawful or illegal. No arrests have been made at this point," Chief Lemmings said. Peyton's mother, now with her son at a Tulsa hospital, said the boys rang the doorbell earlier in the night and were coming home when the boys walked past the house again, and the shooting started. Peyton told her the man yelled, "Hey," then shot him in the back, to which he yelled to his friends, "Run!" Peyton was also shot in the arm. The other bullet punctured his liver and went through his body. The shooter has not been arrested and the Mayes County district attorney is looking into whether the shooting was lawful.

With news video.

7 comments:

Amy said...

Look, if you don't want to be shot, don't live in America. It's really that simple.

shak said...

Amy, I'm beginning to think you're right. It's tragic.

Qualiall said...

Embarrassed to be from the US when we have debates on if a 14 year old kid deserves to die

Ratz said...

Lawful? Probably. Necessary? Certainly not.

Barbwire said...

I'm embarrassed, too. I can tell you right now, though, that if this had happened in Southern California, at least the western part of SoCal, there would be no question about the illegality of shooting the boy. There are some places and lots of people in the United States who are sane, rational people. We are not gun nuts, and don't want those who are to live near us.

Anonymous said...


would never have happened if the kids were armed too

Amy said...

"Don't want to get shot? Don't be a douchebag."

Damn straight. If more Americans were armed, we see a great deal less douchebaggery because every single trespass against your fellow citizen would be met with an armed response. Sensible policies for a better America! Congrats, Anonymous! You are exactly the type of citizen this country has celebrated for the past few decades!