webist

https://cbs3.com/topstories/local_story_255140225.html

Witnessed by an off-duty police officer.

richardmasoner

People are just insane.

I'm glad this went to trial. If Meyer just hit the kid with the car instead of using the gun, I suspect he would have gotten away with it.

webist

You are probably right.

-=(8)=-

My friend John was intentionally hit on a motorcycle at a stoplite in center city.
I got bottled....thats only two of about 25 assaults me and people I know suffered
there. John still couldnt walk properly whne I left PA. Trash and mean people.....
Philly is the one of the scummiest cities in the US.

LittleBigMan

The cyclist was just a seventh-grader who ran afoul of a violent man. He was shot in cold blood.

No court can restore his life, now.

Mos6502

What's an 18 year old need a gun for any way? Seriously.

Tom Servo

Because television and the music industry tell them that they do.

JeffB502

I bought a .22 rifle (15 shot semi-auto, tube fed) on my 18th birthday. A couple of friends from high school and I would go to the local indoor shooting range and shoot targets, tennis balls on ropes (first shot gets it moving, then you get to shoot the moving target ), etc. on weekends every now and then with our .22's. We'd also go out to the desert to visit one of my friends grandparents and get to shoot his guns (he had some nice old m1 Garands, Colt 1911 .45's, some .22 and .38 revolvers, a .30-30 lever action, .30-06 bolt action with a scope, shotguns) (my high school buddies also owned shotguns that we'd shoot out there). I'd say it gave us something to do and kept us out of trouble. None of us ever shot anybody.

The legal age to purchase a handgun is 21. It's also illegal to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, especially in a vehicle. I wish this dumbass had been caught before he killed somebody, but for every 18 year old thug that's driving around town illegally carrying a handgun there's plenty of responsible 18 year old gun owners that you never hear about because they don't go around shooting people.

CsHoSi

I hope that scum can look forward to many more beatdowns in prison.

This is one reason why many say don't get in altercations with motorists. It's ashame this kid was only 14 and shot in cold blood. The driver must be a bloody wimp. Prison will toughen him up or break him now that he doesn't have an easy out.

I always enjoyed target-shooting the .22 rifles at summer camp in Boy Scouts. I bought one when I was 19 or 20. I wish everyone could learn respect and responsibility of guns from scouts or their elders and not TV/music industry.

V-Rock

And this is why I am afraid to confront most people with their wrong doing. I still do, but very cautiously. If they are stupid enough to do what they did wrong in the first place then they are probably stupid enough to act even more irrational. Just last week I had a knife pulled on me at a friend's party because I very kindly pulled a guest aside to let him know he was being a little too touchy-feely on the ladies present. Not cool.

I feel for the young man and his family. Very tragic.

Just be careful folks. I know it sounds lame, but sometimes it is better to walk away.

(this post in no way is attributing blame to the young boy killed. Just asking people to be cautious)

ChipSeal

This is also an example of why the truly psychotic are quickly culled from society. It takes a psycopath to deliberately run down a cyclist, and our chances of actually encountering one are slight at best.

BarracksSi

It's also another example of not reaching for your waistband when you're starting an argument (at least according to the witnesses in the car). Also, move out of the way -- "share the road", as we say -- along with your four other friends since they moved, too.

I dunno... this incident has bad vibes all over it. I don't think either the kid or the shooter is innocent of wrongdoing; they both had the chance to back off.

CB HI

Interesting you blame the cyclist by believing the killer and his friends, over the eyewitness statement made by the cop (that contradicted the killer & buddies).

Maybe the shooter should have followed skiing rules while harassing this kid.

BarracksSi

Interesting that you've forgotten that coming up to a car window -- especially one that's being driven by someone you know to be hostile & angry (thanks to honking their horn) -- and starting an argument is a surefire way to start a fight.

I'm not just blaming the cyclist, I'm blaming BOTH him and the driver for acting like *******s. Learn to read my post.

Dchiefransom

That also could be an excuse to try and keep themselves out of prison. Many states have laws allowing everyone in a vehicle to be charged identically if someone in it commits a crime.

darksiderising

I'm confused. Did Law come up to the window or did the driver shoot him as he was passing Law (who was stopped on the side of the road)? The article says both.

Carusoswi

I fail to see what the young cyclist might have done to deserve any part of being dead. This was a young kid - young enough to be as brash and immature as I was at that age. Learning how to avoid unnecessary conflict is part of growing up. Who gave the thug in the car the right to expel this kid from the school of life? How can you place any blame on the kid.

Maybe the kid deserved reproof, but, even if he had scratched the car or somehow damaged the thug's property, he didn't deserve to die for that.

The blame lies squarely upon the thug. Let's keep things in perspective, here.

Caruso

BarracksSi

The perspective is -- walk away from a possible fight.

I'm going to blame the kid for NOT walking away and, instead, deciding to start a fight.

Did I ever say that he deserved to get shot? Of course not -- I'm not the ******* that you think I am.

Every once in a while, some other idiot kid gets himself killed by pissing off some other crazy person. It happens. If it takes such a severe incident to get other kids to think about NOT pissing off strangers, then the quest for civility is already lost.

bmclaughlin807

Yes. We understand. You're saying that bicyclists should just "Stay the **** out of the way"

Sounds like every ***hole driver I've ever met.

BarracksSi

Is it really that ****ing difficult to MOVE when the car behind you is honking like an ass?

Drivers are *******s and you know it -- why push them to hate you even more?

bmclaughlin807

No, drivers are not *******s. Some (VERY few) are. These particular drivers are bullies, and cowards... looking to push someone around to try to prove that they're tough, or whatever.

And if nobody ever stands up to a bully, the bullying just gets worse. These drivers are no different from the bullies on a school playground. As long as there are no repercussions, they keep doing it. And they push harder and harder until someone DOES get seriously hurt.

I WILL NOT back down from a bully. EVER.

Maybe one day I will get shot. In the meantime, I've turned the tables on many bullies, beat the crap out of a few, and even gotten apologies years later from a couple.

Whatever... if I get shot standing up for myself... well, so be it. I refuse to live my life cowering in fear.

I WILL stand up for myself and my rights.

BarracksSi

Let's play your game, then.

Scenario 1:

You're riding along with four of your friends -- four abreast, mind you, and weaving around -- when some ******* driver comes up behind and lays on their horn, yelling at you to move out of the way. You move, three of your friends move, but the fourth decides to stop, get off his bike, and walk to the window of the car. This fourth friend starts evangelizing about cyclists' rights, "share the road", and all that good stuff, but the driver -- who, as it turns out, is high on crack and has a gun in his hand -- says "**** you!" and shoots him square in the chest.

Who loses? Everybody. The driver's going to get jailed for murder, your friend's dead, and you've lost your strongest bike advocate.

Scenario 2:

You and your four friends are riding along -- still weaving around (for the purpose of this demonstration) -- and an ******* driver comes up from behind, lays on his horn, and yells at you to move out of the way. All four of your friends, including yourself, move to the sides, leaving the driver room to pass. He -- also high on crack and with a gun -- yells a couple choice phrases, and romps on the gas as he leaves.

Who loses? NOBODY. Sure, a couple insults are exchanged, but the crackhead doesn't snap and doesn't shoot anybody. All five of you are still alive and ride home later.

"Cowering in fear" is a bull**** answer.

BarracksSi

A proud person who stands up for their rights then gets shot dead is still dead. What kind of life can you live after you're dead?

If some jackass honking their horn at you is worth dying over, your priorities are all in the wrong places.

bmclaughlin807

What kind of life are you living if you cower every time someone looks at you funny? Oh my god! He MIGHT have a gun!

Screw that. And yes, I've had people threaten to kill me. And one guy pull a knife on me.

BarracksSi

I live a life knowing that simple words don't hurt me. I'm not enough of a p*ssy to fear what someone else says. I'm not stupid enough to think that an a**hole's opinion matters.