WV: Father kills minor son, charged with murder

[seamusTX]

In Hedgesville, West Virginia, today a 51-year-old man set up an improptu shooting range on his property to teach his 13-year-old son how to shoot.

[The father] apparently had taken his son to the backyard to shoot handguns, [a police spokesman] said. The father went down to a woodpile and told the boy, who'd never handled a gun before, where to shoot.

"He said he heard a gunshot and felt like the boy was shooting at him so he spun around and fired a shot back," ...

The boy was dead when first responders arrived. The police spokesman said that the father would be charged with murder.

http://www.journal-news.net/page/conten ... l?nav=5006" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[Keith B]

Worst cover story ever. Unbelievable.

[speedsix]

...even if it were true, I'd take a bullet from one of my boys before I'd THINK of shooting them...Happy Father's Day, all...

[seamusTX]

I tend to overuse terms like idiot and moron, but I am at a loss for words here. We've already done the facepalm thing to death.

Assuming that this story is perfectly true, the father

1. Gave a handgun to a boy who had never shot before.
2. Went downrange with a loaded weapon.
3. "Thought" the boy was shooting at him.
4. Shot his own son in claimed self-defense.
5. Thought the police would accept this story.

Now he will most likely be found guilty of a felony. Possibly his entire family will be destroyed, including his relationships with his own parents, if they are still living. It would not be surprising if he ends his days as a broken man.

- Jim

[Jumping Frog]

Something smells fishy.

There was an interesting comment to the story, apparently from a neighbor:

1. There were THREE shots fired. NOT just 2. It was bang, bang! Then a couple min, then bang again. all 3 shots sounded identical. I live very close to them & I watched those kids grow up. This is so wrong. I don't buy his story at all. Even though I never thought Mr. Butler would ever do something like this, I don't buy it. 2. You Wouldn't shoot back at your child 3. You wouldn't manage to shoot him in the head if you "spun around and shot back"!! Not unless you were an extremely good shot. But for a man who no one ever hears shooting his gun....I doubt you're that good with aiming. 4. There wasn't any commotion after the shots at all. No "call 911!!!" You'd think if you "accidentally" shot your child you'd freak out and be yelling for someone to call instead of dead silence after 3 shots.

[seamusTX]

If that's true, it's extremely troubling.

However, anyone at all can post comments on a web site and make up anything. If that person really is a material witness, he should not be running his mouth or his keyboard.

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

I tend to overuse terms like idiot and moron, but I am at a loss for words here. We've already done the facepalm thing to death.

Assuming that this story is perfectly true, the father

1. Gave a handgun to a boy who had never shot before.
2. Went downrange with a loaded weapon.
3. "Thought" the boy was shooting at him.
4. Shot his own son in claimed self-defense.
5. Thought the police would accept this story.

Now he will most likely be found guilty of a felony. Possibly his entire family will be destroyed, including his relationships with his own parents, if they are still living. It would not be surprising if he ends his days as a broken man.

- Jim

Hmmm, why would he think the boy was shooting at him? I bet the Momma knows...

[speedsix]

....now you may have hit on something there...

[seamusTX]

The only news update on this incident is that the father was arrested and charged with murder. He is held without bail at this point.

With mug shot: http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?fun ... ryid=46163" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://articles.herald-mail.com/2011-06 ... nt-testing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If this incident makes any sense at all, without involving improbable TV-show plots, I wonder if PTSD was involved.

I find it hard to imagine that an experienced shooter could draw, acquire a target, and shoot his own son in the head without some conscious decision-making.

- Jim

[Oldgringo]

The only news update on this incident is that the father was arrested and charged with murder. He is held without bail at this point.

With mug shot: http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?fun ... ryid=46163" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://articles.herald-mail.com/2011-06 ... nt-testing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If this incident makes any sense at all, without involving improbable TV-show plots, I wonder if PTSD was involved.

I find it hard to imagine that an experienced shooter could draw, acquire a target, and shoot his own son in the head without some conscious decision-making.

- Jim

Ask the Momma/wife. I bet she knows....

[surprise_i'm_armed]

"The father was calm and cooperative when talking with police" after the shooting.

If this was an accident and he loved his son, shouldn't he have been emotionally devastated and crying?

SIA

[RoyGBiv]

There's plenty of Darwin awards to be handed out here, however....

Is it not at all POSSIBLE that the kid was angry and started shooting at Dad?
Seems unlikely, but, we've already tried and convicted him without the evidence...

Did Jr have any residue on his hands/clothes?
Where were all the casings? Do they match the story?
Etc.

Kid has a beef with dad... dad doesn't think it's so serious.
"Let's go shoot".... A bit of bonding will resolve things.
Dad gets downrange.... Kid thinks "I'm angry still", BANG.!
Dad realizes he's underestimated the extent of Jr's anger and now Jr. is shooting.
Dad shoots back and gets lucky. I don't see where any distances were given.
My woodpile, when I had one, was about 10 feet from the corner of my house.
Possible? Based on what we know from the article, can't be excluded from possibility.

Just sayin'

[seamusTX]

Teenagers kill, shoot, and otherwise seriously injure their parents intentionally all the time. I have listed a bunch of those incidents in the The Threat Within thread.

However, lacking further evidence, we could only speculate about this incident.

I think any adult man claiming to have shot his 13-year-old son in self defense is going to have a steep uphill burden of proof. He would if I were on the jury (which I would not be, most likely).

- Jim

[seamusTX]

Latest:

• The father is now reported as 73, not 51 as the first story said.
• The son is reported as adopted.
• Police say there is no evidence of alcohol or drug involvement.
• Results of forensic testing are not available yet (no surprise).

http://www.journal-news.net/page/conten ... stody.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At this point the suspect should have had a bond hearing (unless the law is different in WV), but there is no mention of it.

- Jim

[schufflerbot]

sad, sad, sad. this story reeks of bull poop.