Host of Florida bonfire party shoots Alabama teens

[depakid]

A 21-year-old man from Jay, Fla., has been charged with murder after investigators say he shot and killed a Brewton, Ala. teen who came to a party he hosted. A Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office news release says that Robert Franklin Floyd also faces three counts of attempted murder. It was not known if Floyd has a lawyer.

Authorities say the shooting occurred early Saturday after 18-year-old GeTyron Lopez Benjamin and three others went to a bonfire party at Floyd's house. Floyd told investigators the Brewton group, which included two black males, had not been invited and were told to leave.

Assistant State Attorney James Parker said as the victims drove away, Floyd, who is white, ran to his truck, grabbed a rifle, and fired five shots. Parker said two of the shots struck the vehicle and one hit Benjamin in the back. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a Brewton hospital.

More: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/28/1505654/shooting-at-fla-bonfire-leaves.html

[trumad]

1. Guns don't kill people...

Oh never the fuck mind....

[niceypoo]

2. Bullets do

[SteveM]

17. Incorrect. People do. nt

[niceypoo]

43. Yes, people kill each other with guns

...so true

[Euromutt]

44. Or any number of other methods

Remember that 1/3 of homicides in the U.S. are committed by means other than firearms.

Bottom line: certain people kill other people.

[SteveM]

16. Correct. People do. nt

[peggygirl]

3. Sadly, from the Compton cookout to this...there will be more UNLESS

the decent people among us intervene.

[NewMoonTherian]

7. Intervene in what way? n/t

[MineralMan]

4. So, they left, and the moron shot them anyway.

What, I wonder, was he defending? Maybe one of them called him a name as they were leaving. That'd justify murder, no doubt. Besides, they had dark skin. More justification, I guess.

Feh!

[shadowrider]

5. I'm reserving judgment

I think there's more to the story.

[MineralMan]

6. Of course you are....

[PavePusher]

25. Check post #14.

And holster the condescension.

[SteveM]

20. Before you huff & puff too much about racial politics, please re-read...

"A 21-year-old man from Jay, Fla., has been charged with murder after investigators say he shot and killed a Brewton, Ala. teen who came to a party he hosted. A Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office news release says that Robert Franklin Floyd also faces three counts of attempted murder. It was not known if Floyd has a lawyer."

And please (re)-read this:

www.georgiacarry.org Search locally for legal brief in Heller decision. Gun-control is founded upon racist laws and beliefs.

[MineralMan]

23. And you might want to re-read as well:

"Floyd told investigators the Brewton group, which included two black males, had not been invited and were told to leave.

Assistant State Attorney James Parker said as the victims drove away, Floyd, who is white, ran to his truck, grabbed a rifle, and fired five shots."

Bottom line is that the moron is now charged with a very serious crime. Shooting people as they are leaving is pretty much not acceptable, you know. It really isn't.

I don't really care what Georgia law is. I'm quite certain it doesn't allow you to shoot people who are driving away from a party after being told to leave. If I'm wrong, perhaps you'll point out the part of Georgia law that says that's OK.

[PavePusher]

26. If they are shooting at you as they leave...

it would very possibly be legal.

Depends on the preceding circumstances.

[MineralMan]

27. Odd, though, don't you think that only the one guy is under

arrest for anything. He claims someone fired at him. Nothing about any guns found on the guys in the car. No arrests of any of them. The guy who was arrested might well be expected to say that they shot at him. Apparently, though, the police didn't find any evidence of that, or there would be other arrests.

[shadowrider]

28. Why don't we wait for the investigation to be completed?

IF they fired as they were leaving, I don't expect them to admit it and the gun could have been tossed anywhere, IF IF the statement from the guy that did the shooting is correct.

Again, I'm reserving judgment until all the facts are in.

[Tim01 2.0]

29. Actually,

it is totally normal for badguys to lie after they get the short end of the stick. I don't actually know what happened here. But *if* they went to shooting their handgun, and then got shot as a result, I would expect them to run to the police and say they were shot at for no reason at all. It is also normal for police to believe who ever calls first. I think badguys know this, and that is why they now will often call first.

I'm not saying this is how it went down, but very plausible. More may come out later.

[PavePusher]

30. Odd don't you think, that it takes time...

to interview witnesses (after tracking them down), search the scene, collect evidence (I'll toss a gun off the side of a road, let me know how long it takes you to find it...), etc....

Only on TV do crimes get solved in an hour.

As an example, I recently sat on a court martial board for a murder case. After a person was injured and died at a party, police were still attempting to contact witnesses six months later.

The Conclusion Cliff is right beside you. I recommend you not swan dive off it too quickly.

[SteveM]

35. Yet you brought up race. And suggested a range of "excuses" for the accused...

Then you go off passing gas about what is "not acceptable." They are in jail, aren't they? They are charged, aren't they?

What does Georgia law have to do with this?

[msongs]

8. gotta love those 2nd amendment rights nt

[NewMoonTherian]

11. I don't believe that crimes like this invalidate the second amendment. n/t

[PavePusher]

24. Murder is not protected by the Constitution.

Nor is anyone claiming it is. Except, apparently, you...

[cowman]

31. Gotta

love that 1st amend right

[Turbineguy]

9. A shame really

A guy who makes decisions like that but uses different tools could have a brilliant career at Goldman Sachs.

[shadowrider]

10. -- Snort ---

[Tim01 2.0]

12. I'm guessing there was something said by the people leaving.

Nothing that justified being shot at, but something. Maybe threats, or insults.

[slackmaster]

13. If it was something like "We're coming back to kick your ass!" it might be justified

But it's probably a bad shoot.

[shadowrider]

15. They were leaving

so the shooting isn't justified UNLESS the shooter claims shots were fired from the vehicle as it was leaving prove correct. If that's the case, the shooter MAY be justified.

Not enough facts in for me to make up my mind.

[Tim01 2.0]

18. An unhappy customer said he was going to come back and rape the store manager.

That was at a business where I worked downtown a while back. The manager was nice, small, and middle aged. And she often closed the store by herself. It's the kind of thing to make you want to shoot somebody just to keep other people safe.

The cops said there wasn't actually much they could do to keep the badguy from coming back and raping the manager.

[Walk away]

33. Holy cow! I hope you are just writing these things to illustrate..

how crazy it is to carry a gun. If you are....good job!

[shadowrider]

14. More information

The shooter claims a gun was pulled when the request to leave wasn't honored and they in fact fired as they were leaving.

Read here:

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/santa-26330-county-strains.html

[slackmaster]

19. Interesting twist, and not really surprising considering the typical inaccuracy of first reports

:hi:

[shadowrider]

21. It's why I said in post 5 I was reserving judgment

[slackmaster]

22. I was going to post "Me too" but got distracted by a cat

It's always best to reserve judgment until the facts are all in.

[AtheistCrusader]

32. Yeah, the original story didn't make any damn sense at all.

That sort of puts things in order, but we'll see if the explanation holds up at trial.

[proteus_lives]

34. Ban parties.

And party-crashing. Then we'll all be safe.

[depakid]

36. If this idiot didn't have his rifle at the party, he wouldn't be facing life in prison

and another young man would still be alive.

[TPaine7]

37. If that young man fired parting shots because he was asked to leave

a party he was crashing, he deserves what he got.

[proteus_lives]

38. At his house?

He hosted the party right? What else shouldn't have been there? His couch? His TV?

Yeah, he deserves to go to jail but not because he owned a rifle, because he committed a criminal act.

That's the difference between us.

[depakid]

39. That brings up another salient point- guns in the house lead to tragedies

and especially alcohol, teenagers and guns...

[tburnsten]

41. The guy who lived there was 21, not a teenager

If it were my party I would also ask eighteen year olds to leave, politely at first, and if that wasn't working then I would say get the fuck out. Furnishing to minors is bad juju, and expensive. No one wants teens around anyway, they booger everything up.

[proteus_lives]

42. Not a teenager.

And no they don't. Millions of Americans (Including this one.) Grow-up and live in houses with firearms and no incidents.

Criminal behavior, accidents and stupidity cause deaths. But none of those are just cause for stripping everyone of their rights.

[tburnsten]

40. Not writing about the shooting, but I am guessing he probably asked them to leave

because they were under 21. Furnishing to minors is a very expensive charge and serious, and according to the second article in post #14, there was a deputy at the end of the driveway to keep an eye on things. If a car full of eighteen year olds gets pulled over after drinking right outside a known party, guess what's happening to the party? It's getting busted up, and whoever lives there is getting a summons at the least.

My little cousin got over a two thousand dollar fine because some friends of hers showed up at her house before a prom or something with some liquor, and then one of them threw up at the dance. Whoops.

And if anyone in the car did shoot at the party on the way out, well, I don't know how everyone else here would feel about allowing someone to shoot guests at one of your parties, but I know I would attempt to stop that from happening if I had the means to do so.

If he just shot at them for the hell of it, well I hope he never gets out of prison.