Teen arrested for PICTURE of him with guns

troylaplante · 02-23-2006, 08:55 AM

Teen arrested after MySpace.com posting
2/23/2006, 3:08 a.m. CT
The Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday after postings on the popular Web site MySpace.com allegedly showed him holding handguns, authorities said.

The teen was being held at a juvenile detention center facing three misdemeanor charges of juvenile possession of a handgun, said district attorney spokeswoman Pam Russell. He is due in court Feb. 27.

Police searched the boy's home after receiving a tip from Evergreen High School on Feb. 10, the same day he was suspended, officials said.

School spokesman Rick Kaufman said parents were calling with concerns and some kept their children home after photographs posted on the boy's profile on MySpace.com, a social networking Web site, began circulating through the community.

One photo allegedly showed him lying on a floor surrounded by nine rifles with the caption, "Angel o' death on wings o' lead."

"The photos were very disturbing, and while the content was not a direct threat, we just felt it was important for us to take appropriate disciplinary action," Kaufman said, adding the student could be expelled.

Evergreen High School is in the same district as Columbine High School, where two teenage gunmen killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in 1999. One of the gunmen had posted a threat on the Internet before the shootings.

http://www.al.com/newsflash/technolo...ist=technology

dave375hh · 02-23-2006, 09:42 AM

If the school dosen't own the website this one gets tossed as a violation of the first & fourth ammendments. In this case the guns were no more than props like those used in a movie unless he specifily threatened someone. It's just more of the zero tolerance psyco babble that controls these chicken little school boards.

Who ever said that kids give up their constitutional rights when they enter a school building? What a crock!

Shaun · 02-23-2006, 10:24 AM

This is ridiculous and I hope the parents sue the city for false arrest and for violating their rights. If that were me I would never allow anyone to search my house for firearms. Its my legal right to own then and just because the kid is pictured with them it is not a threat.

Outriderdark · 02-23-2006, 11:15 AM

I does seem like a PC response because of the area they are in.
Unfortunately, now the kid is gonna have an FBI file.

iflylow74 · 02-23-2006, 11:21 AM

What a bunch of crap.

Trey45 · 02-23-2006, 11:32 AM

I can understand your point of view and even agree with it to a certain extent, but this boy has obvious problems, posing as the angel of death on wings of lead doesnt ring as a problem, or possible problem with any of you? I'm a NRA lifetime member, an avid shooter, I teach my kids shooting responsibility, and this boys picture of him posing with 9 guns as the angel of death on wings of lead is irresponsible to say the least, with the amount of troubled kids "fixing" their problems with guns these days, I'm thinking a tragedy was averted by the actions of the concerned adults. A CHILD posing as the angel of death on wings of lead with 9 firearms should alarm any responsible person, especially now days when kids see human life as worthless. I agree the school is overstepping their bounds, this needs to be handled by the law, and as many shrinks as it takes to find out what this kids malfunction is before the angel of death on wings of lead decides to live up to his self proclaimed title and start unloading those wings of lead on fellow students, teachers, whomever. A cry for help unheard is a cry for help non the less, at least someone had presence of mind to "listen" to this troubled childs plea for help/attention before it was too late.

Outriderdark · 02-23-2006, 11:36 AM

I see your point. It's a fine balance in a situation like this because you have to weigh the kids rights against his needs and the public good.

Mooseman684 · 02-23-2006, 11:37 AM

Here in Alaska we try to encourage children to get into shooting and teach them about safety first and to respect firearms. In the old days the chief of police would have made it a point to talk to the parents to see if there was a problem,not just storm in and arrest the kid, like they do today. We are fast turning into a Police state ,and this should have us all concerned. I hope it works out for the Young man !

Outriderdark · 02-23-2006, 11:47 AM

It definately should have been handled much differently.

Mooseman684 · 02-23-2006, 11:55 AM

What's Next ? Some 10 year old getting arrested for having a pair of Colt 45 Cap guns strapped on and a Tin Badge saying "Sheriff" , for Impersonating a cop ?

alraicer · 02-23-2006, 11:55 AM

It deffinitly could be handled differently, 4 years ago when I was a sophmore in high school a kid brought a rifle to school and was going to take him self out in the caffetria, the school cop got to him before anything more could happen and instead of storming the kids house to search for other stuff they talked to the parents and his friends and got the kid help and queitly went about their buisness. Then 2 years later a similar incident happened and the authority went in a different direction and searched his house and all of his friends cars. Zero tolerence is going to far and is going with zero tolerence by assosication.
After my car was searched I got a writen and verbal apology by the officer that did the search as well as the school administration.

dhermesc · 02-23-2006, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trey45

A CHILD posing as the angel of death on wings of lead with 9 firearms should alarm any responsible person, especially now days when kids see human life as worthless. I agree the school is overstepping their bounds, this needs to be handled by the law, and as many shrinks as it takes to find out what this kids malfunction...

I agree, this isn't some kind of action photo, or a child posing with his favorite hunting/target rifle. From the description this kid has intentions that don't involve a hunter safety course. I have pictures of my 6 year old and 3 year old shooting their Stevens Favorite that would send a liberal to the ER with a case of the vapors, but if in 10 years I found my son posing in a picture like that I'd probably sell every firearm I own to keep them out of his hands.

Shaun · 02-23-2006, 12:39 PM

The way I see it if anyone comes to your door saying they want to take your guns because your kid mentioned that you have them and the school considers it a risk my response is !!!! no and there is going to be a major fight. These schools are to PC and just because a kid draws our takes pictures with them does not consistute a threat. Think about it this way your kids talk about you having guns in the house and they mention how they love going to the range, a teacher over hears only part of the conversation gets scared and runs to the administration. You get home from work and the police are walking out of your house with your prized collection. You ask why and they explain are you going to allow your guns to be seized so a school can be PC.

Shaun · 02-23-2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alraicer

It deffinitly could be handled differently, 4 years ago when I was a sophmore in high school a kid brought a rifle to school and was going to take him self out in the caffetria, the school cop got to him before anything more could happen and instead of storming the kids house to search for other stuff they talked to the parents and his friends and got the kid help and queitly went about their buisness. Then 2 years later a similar incident happened and the authority went in a different direction and searched his house and all of his friends cars. Zero tolerence is going to far and is going with zero tolerence by assosication.
After my car was searched I got a writen and verbal apology by the officer that did the search as well as the school administration.

They violated your rights and had no probable cause to search your vehicle

Trey45 · 02-23-2006, 12:45 PM

There's a huge difference between talking to your friends at school about enjoying shooting sports and taking pictures of yourself posed as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead...........if my son had done this I would have him in the shrinks office the same day to figure out what his problem is, this is obviously a troubled child, not some innocent picture of him enjoying shooting sports, it's an implyed threat plain and simple

Shaun · 02-23-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trey45

There's a huge difference between talking to your friends at school about enjoying shooting sports and taking pictures of yourself posed as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead...........if my son had done this I would have him in the shrinks office the same day to figure out what his problem is, this is obviously a troubled child, not some innocent picture of him enjoying shooting sports, it's an implyed threat plain and simple

Trey the kid needs discipline not some touchy feely type to talk to them and drug them up on amphetimines, Lithium and other so called mood altering drugs.

Trey45 · 02-23-2006, 12:55 PM

Sure, lets talk to him, lets talk to him till we're blue in the face, if it keeps him from taking those 9 guns and killing as many people as he can as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead I'm all for it, whatever works to keep this troubled kid from blowing innocent people away because he feels bad or whatever, I dont care really what happens to this kid, as long as he is kept away from firearms, and prevented from harming himself or others. It's obvious he needs help, the picture proves it, a cry for help can be any number of things, a picture, a poem, a death threat, cutting themselves, regardless of the device used to gain attention, he got the attention he needed and it prevented a possible murder, with 9 guns pictured, it most likely prevented a slaughter.

Shaun · 02-23-2006, 01:04 PM

he wants attention and I would bet the parents spend very little time and because of today's society I would also bet the parents have never disciplined the kid in any manner. its common sense we never had the happening 20 years ago when parents could actually discipline a kid all of us knew guns were not toys but tools. We all understood the consequences of misuse, I spent plenty of time working with Kids in my law enforcement days and it was suprising how the kids that got extra attention cleaned up their acts after getting the focus. They never had to deal with couseling and they never got on presciption programs -- they got involved with those around them that they wanted attention from -their parents.

Several years ago one of my girlfriends at the time had a kid that was out of control he was seeing an idiot psych. and taking these adhd drugs -- I talked her into dumping the drugs and the pysch for a summer -- during that summer I worked with the kid everyday up on the property and she made sure to show him the discipline of working on his homework and taking away his video games. It was amazing the kid made a full turn around. He is now an A student and the so called adhd is not an issue and the local authorities sealed his juvenile record. When the judge ruled about the sealing of the records he cited the discipline in his life as the reason why he saw a difference and was making it so he could have a successful life from that point forward.

Trey45 · 02-23-2006, 01:08 PM

Shaun are you saying as a former LEO you dont see a threat in what this child did, posing with 9 firearms as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead?We do agree it was a cry for help, but if it had been left unanswered, this cry for help, in my opinion, would have led to a slaughter. I agree discipline is a key issue with the vast majority of the troubled kids today, there;s no arguement there, the point I'm trying to make is this was not some innocent snapshot of a kid posing with his favorite firearms, it was an indirect, non verbal threat, period.

lefty o · 02-23-2006, 01:13 PM

#1, we dont have the full story. 2 yes the kid probably has issues. #3 if the kid was in possesion of the handguns while his parents were around- no laws were broken- so the school , city, and police have all violated this kid's/families rights. welcome to Nazi germany, brought to you by folks like trey.

02-23-2006, 09:42 AM	#2
dave375hh Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 587	If the school dosen't own the website this one gets tossed as a violation of the first & fourth ammendments. In this case the guns were no more than props like those used in a movie unless he specifily threatened someone. It's just more of the zero tolerance psyco babble that controls these chicken little school boards. Who ever said that kids give up their constitutional rights when they enter a school building? What a crock! __________________ Dave 375 H&H

02-23-2006, 11:15 AM	#4
Outriderdark Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 1,125	I does seem like a PC response because of the area they are in. Unfortunately, now the kid is gonna have an FBI file. __________________ "Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker

02-23-2006, 11:21 AM	#5
iflylow74 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Bizzaroworld Posts: 1,065 Blog Entries: 11	What a bunch of crap. __________________ Just because you can't win doesn't mean you shouldn't fight.

02-23-2006, 11:36 AM	#7
Outriderdark Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 1,125	I see your point. It's a fine balance in a situation like this because you have to weigh the kids rights against his needs and the public good. __________________ "Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker

02-23-2006, 11:37 AM	#8
Mooseman684 Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Wilderness Posts: 10,528 Images: 2	Here in Alaska we try to encourage children to get into shooting and teach them about safety first and to respect firearms. In the old days the chief of police would have made it a point to talk to the parents to see if there was a problem,not just storm in and arrest the kid, like they do today. We are fast turning into a Police state ,and this should have us all concerned. I hope it works out for the Young man ! __________________ You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!

02-23-2006, 08:55 AM	#1
troylaplante Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Selma, NC Posts: 2,223	Teen arrested for PICTURE of him with guns Teen arrested after MySpace.com posting 2/23/2006, 3:08 a.m. CT The Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday after postings on the popular Web site MySpace.com allegedly showed him holding handguns, authorities said. The teen was being held at a juvenile detention center facing three misdemeanor charges of juvenile possession of a handgun, said district attorney spokeswoman Pam Russell. He is due in court Feb. 27. Police searched the boy's home after receiving a tip from Evergreen High School on Feb. 10, the same day he was suspended, officials said. School spokesman Rick Kaufman said parents were calling with concerns and some kept their children home after photographs posted on the boy's profile on MySpace.com, a social networking Web site, began circulating through the community. One photo allegedly showed him lying on a floor surrounded by nine rifles with the caption, "Angel o' death on wings o' lead." "The photos were very disturbing, and while the content was not a direct threat, we just felt it was important for us to take appropriate disciplinary action," Kaufman said, adding the student could be expelled. Evergreen High School is in the same district as Columbine High School, where two teenage gunmen killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in 1999. One of the gunmen had posted a threat on the Internet before the shootings. http://www.al.com/newsflash/technolo...ist=technology

02-23-2006, 10:24 AM	#3
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	This is ridiculous and I hope the parents sue the city for false arrest and for violating their rights. If that were me I would never allow anyone to search my house for firearms. Its my legal right to own then and just because the kid is pictured with them it is not a threat. __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

02-23-2006, 11:32 AM	#6
Trey45 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 244 Images: 3	I can understand your point of view and even agree with it to a certain extent, but this boy has obvious problems, posing as the angel of death on wings of lead doesnt ring as a problem, or possible problem with any of you? I'm a NRA lifetime member, an avid shooter, I teach my kids shooting responsibility, and this boys picture of him posing with 9 guns as the angel of death on wings of lead is irresponsible to say the least, with the amount of troubled kids "fixing" their problems with guns these days, I'm thinking a tragedy was averted by the actions of the concerned adults. A CHILD posing as the angel of death on wings of lead with 9 firearms should alarm any responsible person, especially now days when kids see human life as worthless. I agree the school is overstepping their bounds, this needs to be handled by the law, and as many shrinks as it takes to find out what this kids malfunction is before the angel of death on wings of lead decides to live up to his self proclaimed title and start unloading those wings of lead on fellow students, teachers, whomever. A cry for help unheard is a cry for help non the less, at least someone had presence of mind to "listen" to this troubled childs plea for help/attention before it was too late.

02-23-2006, 11:47 AM	#9
Outriderdark Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 1,125	It definately should have been handled much differently. __________________ "Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker

02-23-2006, 11:55 AM	#10
Mooseman684 Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Wilderness Posts: 10,528 Images: 2	What's Next ? Some 10 year old getting arrested for having a pair of Colt 45 Cap guns strapped on and a Tin Badge saying "Sheriff" , for Impersonating a cop ? __________________ You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!

02-23-2006, 11:55 AM	#11
alraicer Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 134	It deffinitly could be handled differently, 4 years ago when I was a sophmore in high school a kid brought a rifle to school and was going to take him self out in the caffetria, the school cop got to him before anything more could happen and instead of storming the kids house to search for other stuff they talked to the parents and his friends and got the kid help and queitly went about their buisness. Then 2 years later a similar incident happened and the authority went in a different direction and searched his house and all of his friends cars. Zero tolerence is going to far and is going with zero tolerence by assosication. After my car was searched I got a writen and verbal apology by the officer that did the search as well as the school administration.

02-23-2006, 12:39 PM	#13
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	The way I see it if anyone comes to your door saying they want to take your guns because your kid mentioned that you have them and the school considers it a risk my response is !!!! no and there is going to be a major fight. These schools are to PC and just because a kid draws our takes pictures with them does not consistute a threat. Think about it this way your kids talk about you having guns in the house and they mention how they love going to the range, a teacher over hears only part of the conversation gets scared and runs to the administration. You get home from work and the police are walking out of your house with your prized collection. You ask why and they explain are you going to allow your guns to be seized so a school can be PC. __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

02-23-2006, 12:45 PM	#15
Trey45 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 244 Images: 3	There's a huge difference between talking to your friends at school about enjoying shooting sports and taking pictures of yourself posed as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead...........if my son had done this I would have him in the shrinks office the same day to figure out what his problem is, this is obviously a troubled child, not some innocent picture of him enjoying shooting sports, it's an implyed threat plain and simple

02-23-2006, 12:55 PM	#17
Trey45 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 244 Images: 3	Sure, lets talk to him, lets talk to him till we're blue in the face, if it keeps him from taking those 9 guns and killing as many people as he can as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead I'm all for it, whatever works to keep this troubled kid from blowing innocent people away because he feels bad or whatever, I dont care really what happens to this kid, as long as he is kept away from firearms, and prevented from harming himself or others. It's obvious he needs help, the picture proves it, a cry for help can be any number of things, a picture, a poem, a death threat, cutting themselves, regardless of the device used to gain attention, he got the attention he needed and it prevented a possible murder, with 9 guns pictured, it most likely prevented a slaughter.

02-23-2006, 01:04 PM	#18
Shaun Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 8,619 Images: 1	he wants attention and I would bet the parents spend very little time and because of today's society I would also bet the parents have never disciplined the kid in any manner. its common sense we never had the happening 20 years ago when parents could actually discipline a kid all of us knew guns were not toys but tools. We all understood the consequences of misuse, I spent plenty of time working with Kids in my law enforcement days and it was suprising how the kids that got extra attention cleaned up their acts after getting the focus. They never had to deal with couseling and they never got on presciption programs -- they got involved with those around them that they wanted attention from -their parents. Several years ago one of my girlfriends at the time had a kid that was out of control he was seeing an idiot psych. and taking these adhd drugs -- I talked her into dumping the drugs and the pysch for a summer -- during that summer I worked with the kid everyday up on the property and she made sure to show him the discipline of working on his homework and taking away his video games. It was amazing the kid made a full turn around. He is now an A student and the so called adhd is not an issue and the local authorities sealed his juvenile record. When the judge ruled about the sealing of the records he cited the discipline in his life as the reason why he saw a difference and was making it so he could have a successful life from that point forward. __________________ "Homeland Security is the responsibility of an armed citizen" ME http://webpages.charter.net/s.s.v/

02-23-2006, 01:08 PM	#19
Trey45 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 244 Images: 3	Shaun are you saying as a former LEO you dont see a threat in what this child did, posing with 9 firearms as the self proclaimed angel of death on wings of lead?We do agree it was a cry for help, but if it had been left unanswered, this cry for help, in my opinion, would have led to a slaughter. I agree discipline is a key issue with the vast majority of the troubled kids today, there;s no arguement there, the point I'm trying to make is this was not some innocent snapshot of a kid posing with his favorite firearms, it was an indirect, non verbal threat, period.

02-23-2006, 01:13 PM	#20
lefty o Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: mn Posts: 5,107	#1, we dont have the full story. 2 yes the kid probably has issues. #3 if the kid was in possesion of the handguns while his parents were around- no laws were broken- so the school , city, and police have all violated this kid's/families rights. welcome to Nazi germany, brought to you by folks like trey.