Another Case of Child Abuse.

Defending himself, mother, boy kills intruder

14-year-old fires once, hits man in head

By Beth Wilson and Mary Ann Cavazos Caller-Times
October 10, 2006

Police said a 14-year-old boy was defending himself and his mother when he shot and killed an intruder Monday afternoon at their home on Ocean Drive.

Capt. John Houston said the 14-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was home from school after becoming ill, and his 46-year-old mother, Rose Ann Kozlowski, had just returned from the grocery store when she was confronted by a man with a knife.

Yes, laws that prevent people from getting guns will certainly prevent violent crime, won't they?

Cmdr. Jesse Garcia confirmed during a news conference that police received a call from one of the residents of 4221 Ocean Drive at 12:55 p.m. and responded to a report of a man tying them up and holding them at knifepoint.

The man, only identified as a black man in his 30s or 40s, led the mother and son to the upstairs master bedroom, where he bound their hands with men's ties and ransacked the house for valuables.

"He packed up her SUV in the garage with those items. He threatened to kill them repeatedly," Houston said.

After the robber caught the woman trying to untie herself once, she was able to free herself and her son and find her husband's pistol in a security box under the bed. She tried to shut double doors to the bedroom as the man tried to push them open and her son held the gun.

"She was using all her strength to push them," Houston said, adding that the boy aimed at the man through a space in the door and fired one shot.

"He shot once and hit him in the head, killing him instantly," Houston said. "He took a life-saving measure to save his mother and himself."

Good shooting, kid.

Soon after the incident, police cars lined Ocean Drive near the house, which is between Ocean View Place and Aberdeen Avenue, and neighbors stood nearby watching officers investigate.

Houston said police also are investigating the possibility the man had an accomplice because neighbors reported seeing two black men in a green 1970s four-door sedan, possibly a Lincoln Continental, driving slowly around the neighborhood a couple hours before the incident.

The best part about this story? This poll results at the sidebar:

I'd like to see a few more responses, though.

UPDATE: Thursday, 10/12

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why the gun-grabbers fail at the polls and have had to resort to attempting legislation from the bench.

End of update.

This is another case like the 11 year-old boy who shot a knife-weilding intruder in South Bend, Indiana in 2002, or the 12 year-old boy who frightened off five home-invaders earlier this year.

But children shouldn't be exposed to guns, we're told. It's dangerous. Yes, each year some children die from accidental gunshot wound. Author Jean Hanff Korelitz believes that number to be over 4,000 annually, and said so in a Salon.com piece, but the Centers for Disease Control reports that in 2003, 56 children 14 years and younger were such victims. In 2002 there were 60. In 2001 there were 72. Each and every year, despite an ever-increasing number of firearms in private hands, the number of accidental deaths by gunshot - even among children - has been declining. But guns are bad. Guns are evil. Children shouldn't be exposed to firearms because they'll only harm themselves or their playmates with them.

Tell that to Jessica Carpenter.