PA 11-Year-Old Shoots His Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

[bhkad]

PA 11-Year-Old Shoots His Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

Breitbart.tv PA 11-Year-Old Shoots His Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

WAMPUM, Pa. — An 11-year-old boy shot his father's pregnant girlfriend in the back of the head while she was lying in bed in their western Pennsylvania farmhouse, then got on the school bus and went to school, authorities said Saturday.

Jordan Brown was charged Saturday as an adult in the shooting death of 26-year-old Kenzie Marie Houk, who was 8 months pregnant, Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said at a news conference.

Houk's family and friends, who gathered at her parents' house Saturday night, told The Associated Press that Houk had experienced problems with the boy in the past.

"There was an issue with jealousy. He told my son stuff," said Houk's brother-in-law, Jason Kraner, 34. "He actually told my son that he wanted to do that to her."

Brown, the son of Houk's live-in boyfriend, was charged with criminal homicide and criminal homicide of an unborn child, Bongivengo said. He was being held in Lawrence County Jail. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.

The fifth-grader was picked up from school Friday by Pennsylvania State Police, who found Houk's body after her 4-year-old daughter told tree cutters on the property that she thought her mother was dead, Bongivengo said.

The murder follows another shocking killing linked to a boy. On Thursday, a 9-year-old Arizona boy reached a plea deal with authorities who accused him of the fatal shootings of his father and his father's roommate. The boy pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the death of his father's roommate while the murder charge in his father's death was dropped.

FOXNews.com - 11-Year-Old Charged in Shooting Death of Pregnant Woman in Pennsylvania - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

We don't know that this cherub is a videogame player but with the alarming numbers of random acts of gun violence by younger teens and pre-teens in the past several years we must ask ourselves, "what has gotten into America's young people's heads?"

High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery).

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

Not to mention the occasional homicide.

 

[rhinefire]

How many murders has a typical 11 year old seen in the media? Sooner or later one gets numb to it all.

 

[bhkad]

How many murders has a typical 11 year old seen in the media? Sooner or later one gets numb to it all.

the arrival of a new generation of ultraviolent video games beginning in the early 1990s and continuing unabated to the present resulted in large numbers of children and youths actively participating in entertainment violence that went way beyond anything available to them on television or in movies.

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

 

[Orion]

I don't buy the video game reasoning, no matter how many times I see it come up. It's too neat and convenient. I would be more interested in his upbringing, and how his community (family, friends, and school) have taught him to address conflicts in his life.

Few people would ever teach their kid to kill someone as part of the solution, but as a kid it's possible to witness others doing unthinkable things when they are out of their minds. When you are severely hurt by someone (emotionally, physically, etc.), how you react in your trauma is the biggest test of your restraint and character.

In this kid's trauma and numbness, he went for a gun. He must have gotten the idea from somewhere.

 

[Tucker Case]

Let's ignore the video game stuff for a moment and focus on the REAL issue: An 11 year old kid who has access to a firearm.

How the hell does this keep happening?

Two words:

****ty parents.

 

[Goobieman]

Let's ignore the video game stuff for a moment and focus on the REAL issue: An 11 year old kid who has access to a firearm.

How the hell does this keep happening?

Two words:

****ty parents.

That would depebd on how you define 'access'.
My 11-yr old, should he be of a mind to do so, could cut my safe open.

 

[Ikari]

PA 11-Year-Old Shoots His Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend

Breitbart.tv PA 11-Year-Old Shoots His Dad’s Pregnant Girlfriend



We don't know that this cherub is a videogame player but with the alarming numbers of random acts of gun violence by younger teens and pre-teens in the past several years we must ask ourselves, "what has gotten into America's young people's heads?"



Not to mention the occasional homicide.

So are you really gonna blame video games on this one? I don't think video games have any affect at this level. If an 11 year old is going to shoot someone in the back of the head, I think at that point there are much larger failing going on than video games. And there's no way that a video game would cause this behavior, or facilitate this behavior. You want to cite links to violence and maybe murder with video games, but video games is one of the largest industries and tons and tons of people play. You have some amount of violence and isolated murders, that can't be linked to video games. If video games caused anything, or contributed as a main factor you would see a much greater number of gamers out there committing crime. I've played video games since I was a kid, and I'm not out there shooting into the sky trying to stop space invaders or anything like that. To link video games to this crime in particular is ridiculous as you have no information on it. Data on links between video gaming and crime is specious at best, you might as well as if people who are predisposed to violent, criminal acts won't play violent video games. Of course they'd have predisposition to, but the video games didn't make them that way.

No, this is not a video games fault, this is a failing on a huge level that primarily has to do with the parents. Society, school, social construct, friends and family...these things have a much higher impact on a child than video games. If you want to talk about video games being a problem and getting rid of them, then we might as well start talking about getting rid of guns. Because that gun that kid had did a HELL of a lot more to facilitate that crime than a video game ever could.

Of course, I think banning either is stupid.

 

[Hatuey]

Let's ignore the video game stuff for a moment and focus on the REAL issue: An 11 year old kid who has access to a firearm.

How the hell does this keep happening?

Two words:

****ty parents.

....ummmm he doesn't have access to a firearm. It was apparently his firearm. That to me seems a lot different then having 'access' to firearms. For example if somebody came to my house. They'd have access to my furniture and be able to use it. They wouldn't own the furniture but they'd have access to it. This kid owned the firearm in question.

Authorities: 11-year-old W.Pa. boy fatally shoots dad's pregnant girlfriend, heads to school

But Friday was no typical morning. Before he left his rented farmhouse, authorities say, the 11-year-old fatally shot his father's pregnant fiancee in the back of the head as she lay in bed. He then put his youth model 20-gauge shotgun back in his room and went out to catch his bus, police say.

 

[Orion]

Let's ignore the video game stuff for a moment and focus on the REAL issue: An 11 year old kid who has access to a firearm.

How the hell does this keep happening?

Two words:

****ty parents.

I didn't want to turn this into a potential anti-gun thread by bringing that up, but yeah, it's pretty glaring, isn't it? If the kid could access the gun, then the dad was just out of touch to begin with. Sorry, had to say it.

 

[bhkad]

I don't buy the video game reasoning, no matter how many times I see it come up. It's too neat and convenient. I would be more interested in his upbringing, and how his community (family, friends, and school) have taught him to address conflicts in his life.

Few people would ever teach their kid to kill someone as part of the solution, but as a kid it's possible to witness others doing unthinkable things when they are out of their minds. When you are severely hurt by someone (emotionally, physically, etc.), how you react in your trauma is the biggest test of your restraint and character.

In this kid's trauma and numbness, he went for a gun. He must have gotten the idea from somewhere.

The overly simplistic mantra, "Correlation is not causation," is useful when teaching introductory students the risks in too-readily drawing causal conclusions from a simple empirical correlation between two measured variables.

However, correlational studies are routinely used in modern science to test theories that are inherently causal. Whole scientific fields are based on correlational data (e.g., astronomy). Well conducted correlational studies provide opportunities for theory falsification. They allow examination of serious acts of aggression that would be unethical to study in experimental contexts. They allow for statistical controls of plausible alternative explanations.

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

 

[Tucker Case]

That would depebd on how you define 'access'.
My 11-yr old, should he be of a mind to do so, could cut my safe open.

Maybe, but it wouldn't be an easy task to achieve without being caught. That'd be my guess.

 

[bhkad]

So are you really gonna blame video games on this one? I don't think video games have any affect at this level. If an 11 year old is going to shoot someone in the back of the head, I think at that point there are much larger failing going on than video games. And there's no way that a video game would cause this behavior, or facilitate this behavior. You want to cite links to violence and maybe murder with video games, but video games is one of the largest industries and tons and tons of people play. You have some amount of violence and isolated murders, that can't be linked to video games. If video games caused anything, or contributed as a main factor you would see a much greater number of gamers out there committing crime. I've played video games since I was a kid, and I'm not out there shooting into the sky trying to stop space invaders or anything like that. To link video games to this crime in particular is ridiculous as you have no information on it. Data on links between video gaming and crime is specious at best, you might as well as if people who are predisposed to violent, criminal acts won't play violent video games. Of course they'd have predisposition to, but the video games didn't make them that way.

No, this is not a video games fault, this is a failing on a huge level that primarily has to do with the parents. Society, school, social construct, friends and family...these things have a much higher impact on a child than video games. If you want to talk about video games being a problem and getting rid of them, then we might as well start talking about getting rid of guns. Because that gun that kid had did a HELL of a lot more to facilitate that crime than a video game ever could.

Of course, I think banning either is stupid.

If you read the OP you'll see that I don't blame this one on videogames but I do ask what is getting in America's young people's heads. And I suggest that videogames may be a factor in random violence.

Some studies have yielded nonsignificant video game effects, just as some smoking studies failed to find a significant link to lung cancer. But when one combines all relevant empirical studies using meta-analytic techniques, five separate effects emerge with considerable consistency.

Violent video games are significantly associated with: increased aggressive behavior, thoughts, and affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased prosocial (helping) behavior.

Average effect sizes for experimental studies (which help establish causality) and correlational studies (which allow examination of serious violent behavior) appear comparable (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

 

[Tucker Case]

....ummmm he doesn't have access to a firearm. It was apparently his firearm. That to me seems a lot different then having 'access' to firearms. For example if somebody came to my house. They'd have access to my furniture and be able to use it. They wouldn't own the furniture but they'd have access to it. This kid owned the firearm in question.

Authorities: 11-year-old W.Pa. boy fatally shoots dad's pregnant girlfriend, heads to school

Owning a gun that is only available when supervised is not the same thing as access to a gun. Access would mean an unfettered ability to have said firearm in one's possesion unsupervised.

 

[Hatuey]

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

From your source :

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

Several major gaps remain in the violent video game literature. One especially large gap is the lack of longitudinal studies testing the link between habitual violent video game exposure and later aggression, while controlling for earlier levels of aggression and other risk factors. Indeed, of the four major types of empirical studies mentioned earlier, this is the only type missing. There are such studies focusing on television violence but none on video games.

The overwhelming majority of video game players are HABITUAL. They're not sitting in front of their screens 24/7 playing violent video games. Even the majority of WoW players aren't sitting in front of their screens for more then a few hours a week. And that is a game with millions of players. For a source claiming to debunk 'myths' on violent video gaming it seems ridiculous that they'd be missing data representing the majority of gamers.

 

[Goobieman]

Maybe, but it wouldn't be an easy task to achieve without being caught. That'd be my guess.

That, too, is situational.
Fact is, if a kid wants to get a gun, YOUR gun, he can. "Access" is, therefore, relative.

The way to prevent things like this is teaching kids how to properly deal with whatever problems they may have.

 

[Tucker Case]

I didn't want to turn this into a potential anti-gun thread by bringing that up, but yeah, it's pretty glaring, isn't it? If the kid could access the gun, then the dad was just out of touch to begin with. Sorry, had to say it.

I'm not anti-gun, I'm anti-****ty parenting. HUGE difference. ****ty parents like this wreak havock on responsible gun-owners who do not let their kids have shotguns in their rooms.

 

[Tucker Case]

That, too, is situational.
Fact is, if a kid wants to get a gun, YOUR gun, he can. "Access" is, therefore, relative.

The way to prevent things like this is teaching kids how to properly deal with whatever problems they may have.

True, but this kid had teh shotgun in his room. Perhaps I should have said "unfettered access".

Making sure the weapons are in a safe is being a responsible parent. Allowing an 11-year-old unresticted access to a shotgun? ****ty parenting.

What I mean by access is that in this case, it appears that there were no safeguards in place.

 

[bhkad]

I didn't want to turn this into a potential anti-gun thread by bringing that up, but yeah, it's pretty glaring, isn't it? If the kid could access the gun, then the dad was just out of touch to begin with. Sorry, had to say it.

Millions of young people grow up in rural areas with a firearm(s) and never misuse it.

Our nation was built around every able bodied person in the household being able to help catch game and defend the family, if need be, as early as possible.

What has changed in the interim is the introduction of ultraviolent videogames into society.

 

[Dr_Patrick]

Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions

Why bring video games into it when they have nothing to do with it? You don't even have proof that the kid played video games. I realize you have your own personal anti-video game agenda but this is getting kind of ridiculous.

 

[Goobieman]

True, but this kid had teh shotgun in his room. Perhaps I should have said "unfettered access".

Yes, that would have been better :mrgreen:

 

[Tucker Case]

What has changed in the interim is the introduction of ultraviolent videogames into society.

A helluva lot more has changed than that.

 

[Hatuey]

Owning a gun that is only available when supervised is not the same thing as access to a gun. Access would mean an unfettered ability to have said firearm in one's possesion unsupervised.

Then we have very different definitions of 'access'. Another example. My wife has access to my cameras but she doesn't really 'own' them. But she has access to them. My wife can not, without my permission, take my cameras to a shop and sell them. But she can use them all she wants without my supervision. This kid owned his guns.

 

[Goobieman]

What has changed in the interim is the introduction of ultraviolent videogames into society.

That and about a million other things - not the least of which is the constant and continued erosion of the idea that you are responsible for yourself and your actions.

 

[Dr_Patrick]

Whenever stories like this come up people are always looking for a scapegoat whether it be guns or video games or whatever. Perhaps the kid was just mentally unstable. Perhaps there was abuse going on in the household. I think it's silly to blame inanimate objects for crap like this.

If videogames or guns were truly responsible for stuff like this these stories would occur far more often and would be far more widespread. Video games and guns don't suddenly make someone inclined to do stuff like this.

 

[Arcana XV]

Millions of young people grow up in rural areas with a firearm(s) and never misuse it.

And millions of young people play violent video games and never kill anyone.