Babysitter Shot by Angry 4-Year-Old

[jaeger45]

Babysitter Shot by Angry 4-Year-Old
by Amy Hatch Jan 6th 2009 1:00PM


Police are scratching their heads over what to do with a 4-year-old Jackson, Ohio boy who shot his babysitter after the 18-year-old caretaker stepped on the child's foot.

Nathan Beavers was minding the boy in his grandmother's mobile home when the shooting took place. Beavers says that after he accidentally stepped on the boy's foot, the enraged child announced he was going to get a gun.

No one in the house took him seriously -- several other teens and kids were present -- but the boy ran to a nearby closet, and grabbed a gun. He then opened a drawer, took out a shell, loaded the gun and fired it at Beavers.

Beavers sustained minor wounds to his arm and side, and was treated and released from the hospital. One other teen also suffered minor injuries.

The boy is in the custody of his parents while cops figure out what to do about the incident. He may be too young to be charged. His father says the kid has seen adults fire guns before, but maintains that he was not aware that his son knew how to load and shoot the weapon. Counseling has been arranged for the young shooter.

Wow, and I thought it was bad when the kid I babysat for hid my shoes. What's next? I mean, the guy just stepped on his foot. What would have happened if he had tried to make him take a nap or sit in the naughty chair? This just goes to show that A) kids are more prone than ever to violence at younger ages and B) you need to lock up your guns, people.
----------------------------

What's your take?

To me, something just doesn't look right.

1) For the lightest of PISTOLS, we know that it will still need a fairly strong grip to rack back the slide. In fact, loading a single round into a magazine, ensuring that the mag locks in place, then racking the slide seems just too complicated for a 4-yr old, not to speak of the grip strength needed. Loading the round direct into chamber of a pistol without a magazine can even be more challenging, as we all know.

2) For a REVOLVER, primary consideration again is the strength needed to pull the trigger for a single action, or of pulling back the hammer to cock a double action.

And of course there is also the matter of loading that single round- the 4-yr old boy must be very familiar in releasing the cylinder AND knowing how to lock it properly so that the single round will aline properly when the hammer is cocked!!!... Of course the boy's dad should know whether the tyke was that familiar with the gun.

OR: Could the baby-sitter have been playing with the gun and shot himself (like that dude -- star footballer player?--who shot himself in the thigh in a NY nightclub with his unlicensed FA and is now in trouble) and just claimed the boy did it? And could the cops be that dumb to fall for his story and swallowed it hook, line and sinker??? I won't be surprised, really...

[Bullseye]

Happy New Year Jaeger! I was wondering if you would be posting anytime soon. I was looking at the forum just the other day and I noticed you last post was sometime in October and I hoped all was well. I know you retired folks tend to lose track of time, with not having to keep to a schedule and all.

I'm glad to see you are well. Did you travel back to the RP for the holidays?

You may be right about the story. Other teens in the house - hmmm there could be more there in the story. The four year old may have fired the shot but the other teens could have had something to do with it too.

R,
Bullseye

[toyfj40]

the comments about a Pistol/Revolver are points to consider,
the version I read explicitly mentioned a 20-gauge Shotgun.

http://blogs.USAToday.com/ondeadline/20 ... -4-ye.html

[jaeger45]

the comments about a Pistol/Revolver are points to consider,
the version I read explicitly mentioned a 20-gauge Shotgun.

http://blogs.USAToday.com/ondeadline/20 ... -4-ye.html

You're right: Turns out it was a 20-ga shotgun, after all.

But still- one might say increduluously, "4 yr old, fired a 20-ga shotgun, using birdshot ???... Gimme a break!!!..."

But it happened:

Jackson County Deputy: Boy, 4, shoots teen
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 3:18 AM
By Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

When the upset 4-year-old announced he was going to get a gun, everyone figured he was headed to his bedroom to fetch a toy.

Instead, the boy returned with the real thing, firing a shotgun and wounding a 17-year-old Sunday evening in Jackson County.

Nathan Beavers was being treated at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus for pellet wounds to his arm and side. He is expected to recover.

Deputies were astonished to learn that a 4-year-old boy was the triggerman in the 7:24 p.m. shooting at his grandmother's house along Spriggs Road, about 6 miles south of Jackson.

"He didn't say much," Chief Deputy Jim Ephlin said of the suspect. "He said he was mad at Nathan. He said, 'I'm going to go get a gun.' The others thought he was kidding and was going to get a toy gun."

The boy, apparently angered that Beavers stepped on his foot, retrieved a shell from a drawer in a back bedroom, grabbed a 20-gauge single-shot shotgun from a closet and loaded the weapon, Ephlin said.

He returned to the living room, and in front of another 17-year-old boy and other children, shot Beavers. "It's lucky it was birdshot," Ephlin said of the shell the boy inserted into the shotgun.

The boy's father said he was shocked that his son knew how to load and fire the shotgun. The boy has watched others shoot but never was taught how to handle a gun, he said.

"It was an accident. He just thought it was another toy gun … He didn't appreciate what it could do," the boy's father said.

"The guns are gone out of our house," he added. "They're not going to be around with the kids anymore. It's not worth it."

The boy is in the custody of his parents "until we see what the prosecutor wants to do," Ephlin said. The parents of the injured youth told deputies they did not want any legal action taken against the boy, he said.

Prosecutor Jonathan Blanton called the case a "weird, weird set of facts," but he doubts the boy will end up in the juvenile justice system. The boy's father said counseling was being arranged for his son.

Investigators will examine why the ammunition and gun were not locked up, Blanton said. Ohio does not have a law requiring that guns be secured away from children.

That tyke must have had steroids for milk to unsnap the lever of the break-open single-shot to open it, and then snap it back shut!

But he sure has a serious anger management problem- he knew what to do when angry. I wouldn't like any grandkid of mine anywhere near him during his lifetime. Sorry, but I couldn't help thinking of a certain school and a certain post office... You get my drift.