Teen Killed In Neighborhood Watch Shooting

[Eis]

This whole thing is really horrible.. sigh.

Sometimes you really just hate people.

[Seegtease]

This whole thing is really horrible.. sigh.

Sometimes you really just hate people.

It SEEMS horrible, based on the information given.

[Pendulous]

It SEEMS horrible, based on the information given.

Yeah, would really like to know more, but based on the info we know, it's a rather disturbing event. What I don't get is why the shooter wasn't taken into custody, and imprisoned, immediately.

[drukai]

And this is why the Florida Stand Your Ground law is bunk.

The Florida law is a self-defense, self-protection law. It has four key components:

It establishes that law-abiding residents and visitors may legally presume the threat of bodily harm or death from anyone who breaks into a residence or occupied vehicle and may use defensive force, including deadly force, against the intruder.

In any other place where a person “has a right to be,” that person has “no duty to retreat” if attacked and may “meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

In either case, a person using any force permitted by the law is immune from criminal prosecution or civil action and cannot be arrested unless a law enforcement agency determines there is probable cause that the force used was unlawful.

If a civil action is brought and the court finds the defendant to be immune based on the parameters of the law, the defendant will be awarded all costs of defense.

Remember, if you reasonably believe the young black man carrying skittles and iced tea is going to cause harm to you or another person, you can kill him in cold blood, and are immune to criminal prosecution.

[Shmeh]

If Zimmermann had headwound and bleeding nose, he was apparently defending himself. If Trey attacked and then tried to disarm Zimmermann, it is a sufficient reason for the latter to kill former.

Also it's hard to believe that 30 year old attacked 17 year old first. I would conjecture that Zimmermann asked Trey to identify himself, the latter refused, and when former insisted, attacked him. Zimmermann produced the gun, Trey didn't surrender and was shot.

There's no need to play a racism card when teenager agression and recklessness is most likely involved.

No random civilian in the world has a right to demand that I identify myself. My reaction would have been the same as his. I'd probably identify myself after he pulled a gun. If he pushed it any further he'd be in serious danger himself.

[Wynnyelle]

Really? A neighborhood watch captain? Why did he even have a gun in the first place? Neighborhood watchmen aren't supposed to be vigilantes. They're supposed to report crimes as they occur. It doesn't matter what the kid did (unless he was physically attacking them with a deadly weapon), you don't shoot people like that. That's not your job or your place.

Really sad.

[PACOX]

And this is why the Florida Stand Your Ground law is bunk.



Remember, if you reasonably believe the young black man carrying skittles and iced tea is going to cause harm to you or another person, you can kill him in cold blood, and are immune to criminal prosecution.

The law isn't interpurtted like that. This is actually a recent case where someone tried to twist the law to justify killing someone. Unless the boy was stealing out of his garage or pulled him out of the car, the argument can't be used.

[Seegtease]

Yeah, would really like to know more, but based on the info we know, it's a rather disturbing event. What I don't get is why the shooter wasn't taken into custody, and imprisoned, immediately.

At least arrested and questioned adequately.

Like I said, there HAS to be a reason. People assume because one isn't given means there is not one. It's just a bad article.

[Ragedaug]

A coworker of mine is is Nigerian. He says he grew up in a gated community in southern Nigeria where the "hood watch" where all armed with very visible firearms, patrolling behind tall sturdy walls/fences. Apparently if they were not there, then their fellow countrymen, from time to time, would enter the community, and rob, rape, & murder the people who lived inside the community. So if I come away with only one thing from the ignorant Americans posting in this thread I can only conclude that all Nigerians are Racist Americans who hate black people??

Get a clue people. Violence, guns, killing, hatred, racism, & bigotry are NOT U.S. problems. They are human problems. They exist and are very real in every country in the world, many of which dwarf what you see in America by a long shot.

*Sorry for the disparaging remarks about my fellow countrymen - Americans. It was easy to figure out where you come from, because I can only imagine Americans that have never left the U.S. figure this this country has some sort of monopoly on violence & racism.

---------- Post added 2012-03-12 at 03:30 PM ----------

Funny how I keep seeing "racist hate crime" and "killing in cold blood".

Again, we no proof of either. But you have to pick one. They are mutually exclusive. You can't have both.

[Purlina]

A coworker of mine is is Nigerian. He says he grew up in a gated community in southern Nigeria where the "hood watch" where all armed with very visible firearms, patrolling behind tall sturdy walls/fences. Apparently if they were not there, then their fellow countrymen, from time to time, would enter the community, and rob, rape, & murder the people who lived inside the community. So if I come away with only one thing from the ignorant Americans posting in this thread I can only conclude that all Nigerians are Racist Americans who hate black people??

This is not Nigeria, the proper way to handle things is to call the actual authorities. In the US vigilante justice isn't tolerated...

[vazar_da_priest]

cold blooded murder. you cant just shoot someone. even if there is an altercation

EDIT: actually if he felt threatened he is legally allowed to shoot him, according to florida's law.

[Roose]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1332440.html

Using the Huffpost because I think they would be the first to claim racist motive. The details simply are not known. More details will come out.

Not saying the guy was justified, just that it is too soon to call him a racist and close the book.

About him not going in for at least questioning, that has me confused.

Funny how it is automatically assumed racist, but if a black guy had shot him this would not even be news. Black kids get shot and killed all the time, but since a white guy is involved here it is major news.

Is there really anything more appalling about this kid getting shot than a kid getting shot in the streets of some projects? A dead kid anywhere should be a big deal, not just when it happens in a gated community.

[Beazy]

And guns helps said idiots do it faster and more effectivly...

Thank god for that. Could you imagine a racist idiot with a dull butcher knife? Or an old tire iron?

[Inos]

10:1 it went down like this.
Trevon noticed he was being followed by an SUV . stopped. told the guy off.
guy gets out of car with the gun out. approaches trevon thinking he is some gang member.
Trevon punches the guy in the nose thinking he is gunna get shot if he dosnt do something.
guy shoots. guy blames kid. guy gets off scott free.

[Wynnyelle]

A coworker of mine is is Nigerian. He says he grew up in a gated community in southern Nigeria where the "hood watch" where all armed with very visible firearms, patrolling behind tall sturdy walls/fences. Apparently if they were not there, then their fellow countrymen, from time to time, would enter the community, and rob, rape, & murder the people who lived inside the community. So if I come away with only one thing from the ignorant Americans posting in this thread I can only conclude that all Nigerians are Racist Americans who hate black people??

Get a clue people. Violence, guns, killing, hatred, racism, & bigotry are NOT U.S. problems. They are human problems. They exist and are very real in every country in the world, many of which dwarf what you see in America by a long shot.

*Sorry for the disparaging remarks about my fellow countrymen - Americans. It was easy to figure out where you come from, because I can only imagine Americans that have never left the U.S. figure this this country has some sort of monopoly on violence & racism.

---------- Post added 2012-03-12 at 03:30 PM ----------

Funny how I keep seeing "racist hate crime" and "killing in cold blood".

Again, we no proof of either. But you have to pick one. They are mutually exclusive. You can't have both.

I get that we need to have protection from people who are out there to commit crimes and murder people but this was an unarmed, 17 year old kid. Under what circumstances would you ever need to shoot somebody in the chest if they are completely unarmed? This kid wasn't a rapist or a murderer, so that point is moot. I don't see how believing that there's no excuse for him to pull a gun on a kid is ignorant. The guy who shot him even called 911 to alert them, and he should have just left it at that. If there was something going on, they would have handled it appropriately. He did NOT handle it appropriately.

[Seegtease]

*Sorry for the disparaging remarks about my fellow countrymen - Americans. It was easy to figure out where you come from, because I can only imagine Americans that have never left the U.S. figure this this country has some sort of monopoly on violence & racism.

It's not only Americans that believe this, but due to our gun rights, a lot of people from other countries in Europe believe we're the world capital of violence and racism as well.

Nigeria is awful. I've heard so many horror stories about that place. I'd be terrified to go anywhere near there.

Despite our plentiful guns, I feel pretty safe here. We have decent law enforcement, and corruption isn't very prominent in the judicial branch, so usually law and justice are served well, and also serve as strong deterrents to crime.

[Purlina]

I'm pretty sure that if the shooter was black he would probably have been taken into custody.

[Brett Skullcrack]

Unless you're carrying a badge you have no right to demand anyone to identify themselves or pull a gun on them. This is exactly why amateurs should not be allowed to carry guns.

[Porcell]

I want to know what the student was suspended for. *

"Martin, who lived with his mother in Miami, was a junior at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School. He was in the middle of serving a one-week suspension from the school. Tracy Martin would not discuss his son’s suspension, but said he took Trayvon to the Central Florida town, best known as the auto train stop closest to Orlando, “to disconnect and get his priorities straight.”"

Also, it would be nice if the articles stop posting pictures of him when he was 12 years old, and stopped calling him a child.

I'm not condoning the shooter's actions by any means, but a lot of people are trying to paint the picture as "Black kid walking down the street. * White guy pulls up in a car, gets out, and shoots him in the chest. * The child had Skittles."

If it was manslaughter, then I'm sure the guy will get charged with manslaughter. * *If not, then it was*justifiable. * But we aren't the police, we aren't the ones investigating, and yet "we" are the ones calling for the lynch mob on the shooter.

[Purlina]

If it was manslaughter, then I'm sure the guy will get charged with manslaughter. * *If not, then it was*justifiable. * But we aren't the police, we aren't the ones investigating, and yet "we" are the ones calling for the lynch mob on the shooter.

Well everyone is entitled to have an opinion, right? It's not like anyone is actually going to go up to him and shoot him...

:O