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Florida Man shot at Pokemon Go players parking on road outside his house at 1:30AM

benson827

Banned
Nothing surprises me anymore with America. The ease in which a gun can be bought just from a shop baffles my mind. With the amount of roaming kangaroos and drop bears we have in Sydney, Australia. We can't even buy a bb gun... No such thing as a license or anything. Straight up illegal to even own a bb gun
 

wvnative

Member
If you run the risk of being shot for being two unarmed, innocent teenagers in a car at night, on a public street, then something is very wrong with that society. The line for defending your property is the boundary of your property, you can't just threaten and blast away at anyone who happens to be 'near' it, particularly when they are minding their own business.

Teenagers don't have a lot of safe places to go, I'd think they'd be in far more danger in a park at night in a lot of places than sitting in a car on the street. When I see a car in my street at night I assume it's probably teenagers dropping off/picking their friends up, or young couples having a chat before one of them goes into their parents place. If I was truly suspicious and there has been a spate of break-ins, I'd get the number plate and call the police.

Wholeheartedly agree it is a sign that society is royally screwed up to HAVE to think this way, yet it is a fact that that is the society we live in. If you really were in danger though, you'd be dead by the time cops showed up in most cases, so that isn't always the be all end all answer.

Now it is true, he could have looked out the window to see what was up, and probably should have done that, I highly suspect he just woke up, heard "did you get anything" and immediately grabbed his gun and ran outside and went Rambo upon seeing two teenagers without even stopping to realize they weren't even on his property line let alone unarmed. Which indeed makes him a moron.

I ain't defending how he handled the situation, just the thought process that led to his handling of it.
 
Oh god...the people saying that it was OK to walk out of the house and investigate the vehicle with a gun in hand.

Now wonder this dumb shit happens all the time. Idiots.
 
To echo some previous posters, please do not equate what Florida man did to typical gun owner behavior.

As for my two cents, unfortunately we live in a world where you HAVE to be suspicious at stuff like this, generally speaking, people of any age hanging out near/on your property at 1:30AM is not normal and as a resident of the home you should be highly suspicious especially if you hear them saying stuff like "did you get anything"?

There are so many crazy people, robbers, rapists, murderers, to say otherwise is non-sense and I'm highly disturbed at all these comments outright demonizing Florida man's actions, he had every right to be afraid.

All that being said, he didn't handle things properly, he should have gone outside WITH his gun to see what was up, but immediately holstered it upon seeing it was just some kids playing Pokemon. Also no need to shoot them if they were unarmed and not even on his property, should have just asked what they were doing, and left it alone.

The vast majority of responsible gun owners would not have acted so carelessly, and it sucks that crazy people like him are what give gun owners the horrible image they have.

Also, regardless of what your opinion is, you must all admit that people should NOT be going near other people's houses unless they have some kind of a problem (broke down, lost, medical emergency etc...) and the teens should have known better. Go to a public park, wal-mart parking lot, heck I'm okay with going in a field or the woods. Just don't go near people's houses, you run the risk of getting shot by crazy people like Florida Man.

But you already admitted he was a crazy man, so why can't we demonize him? Like you said, he makes the sensible gun owners look bad and if nothing comes out of it, it just further enables the behavior from people like him.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I'm looking forward to hearing the explanation of how firing at the car heading towards him involved damage to the rear tyre and hubcaps. That sounds a little bit more like blasting away at a vehicle moving away or past him on a public street to me.

As someone who has served as well as contract work... shooting under a high stress situation and if he was at a slight off angle (but still in the way) with a hand gun, the slightest stress of movement can have your shots hit towards the ground, etc..

It also shows he was not 'shooting to kill' as well, since they were placed to seemingly disable the vehicle, and not the windshield or rear window, at the people in the car.
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Guy should have just stayed in his house with his gun and if the teenagers came near it or entered it, then yeah, I would shoot too but to go outside, hell no.
 

PillarEN

Member
Some random dude came up to me and my friends around a heavy lure area (a bunch of churches) and said "don't play your game down on my street". Like ok, I don't even know where you live buddy but you don't own the street and sidewalk so a group of people with phones out aren't going to be disturbing your peace anyways.
Caught a Scyther yesterday in some side street. Hope it was his.
 
He was insinuating that I lived in some place that had no gang activity when I lived in LA. Someone unfamiliar with LA would assume something like that as most parts if that city have some form of gang activity. From first hand experience I can tell you I at no point ever was my first instinct to try and shoot someone because they were in front if my place

Yeah but "the raps" shit just seemed so uncalled for. For all we know he lives in LA or has in the past too. He clearly lives in a bad part of town currently and it has him pretty zoinked so I'd wager a guess he's had first hand experience with living in gang related/controlled areas too, it's not just an assumption he got from "the raps".

I regret sticking my nose in this though, I'm sure he can speak for himself and doesn't need me to do it for him. Your "the raps" comment just rubbed me the wrong way.
 

todahawk

Member
He heard them asking if they had got anything, so he thought they were robbers. Then rather than try to explain it, they try to hit him with their car?

Nothing was said anywhere about the kids trying to hit him, only that they were trying to get away when he pointed the gun at them.
 

redcrayon

Member
Not really. For instance, my grandparents live on a pretty tight street with tons of trees overhanging the streets and in a neighborhood with few kids or people under 20. In fact, aside from holidays, the only time lots of cars show up in that area is when my family has get togethers. Teens showing up there would be ultra suspicious and would spook a lot of the residents if they didn't go into the residential development behind them.
In which case get the plate number, call the police and say it's unusual activity, don't just start pulling guns on people, as there's a fair chance there's an innocent explanation. Like in this case. I'm not saying nobody should do
anything if they see something suspicious, it's just that having a first response of moving to threatening people with lethal weapons is a bizarre escalation that ends with dead teenagers and murder charges.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Some random dude came up to me and my friends around a heavy lure area (a bunch of churches) and said "don't play your game down on my street". Like ok, I don't even know where you live buddy but you don't own the street and sidewalk so a group of people with phones out aren't going to be disturbing your peace anyways.
Caught a Scyther yesterday in some side street. Hope it was his.

The dawn of the Pokegangs!
 
To echo some previous posters, please do not equate what Florida man did to typical gun owner behavior.

As for my two cents, unfortunately we live in a world where you HAVE to be suspicious at stuff like this, generally speaking, people of any age hanging out near/on your property at 1:30AM is not normal and as a resident of the home you should be highly suspicious especially if you hear them saying stuff like "did you get anything"?

There are so many crazy people, robbers, rapists, murderers, to say otherwise is non-sense and I'm highly disturbed at all these comments outright demonizing Florida man's actions, he had every right to be afraid.

All that being said, he didn't handle things properly, he should have gone outside WITH his gun to see what was up, but immediately holstered it upon seeing it was just some kids playing Pokemon. Also no need to shoot them if they were unarmed and not even on his property, should have just asked what they were doing, and left it alone.

The vast majority of responsible gun owners would not have acted so carelessly, and it sucks that crazy people like him are what give gun owners the horrible image they have.

Also, regardless of what your opinion is, you must all admit that people should NOT be going near other people's houses unless they have some kind of a problem (broke down, lost, medical emergency etc...) and the teens should have known better. Go to a public park, wal-mart parking lot, heck I'm okay with going in a field or the woods. Just don't go near people's houses, you run the risk of getting shot by crazy people like Florida Man.

Being afraid can't be used as an excuse for escalating things in a deadly way. Let's say that these kids really were robbers and potentially had weapons on them. What sense does it make to directly confront them while brandishing your own weapon instead of staying inside, calling the cops, and holding off on pulling out his gun until they started to advance onto his property? Even under the context of these kids having bad intentions, what this guy did was insanely stupid. There needs to be better education as to what is an acceptable situation to wield your gun and what isn't. If I'm going to live in a nation where people own guns, i would least like for there to be some enforced standards on what is responsible and what isn't.
 

Chaos17

Member
Careless teens playing cellphone games at 1AM is about the only thing that will get me to be sympathetic for Florida Man. This game is making the people glued to their phones even dumber, somehow.

Are you kidding me ?!!
Are you also for shooting people when they sleep in their car in public area because you're total paranoia like this case ??

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191323&page=1

The kids were not trepassing his property, to make him come out with a gun. Calling cops should've been the first thing to do instead.
 

BokehKing

Banned
Yeah but "the raps" shit just seemed so uncalled for. For all we know he lives in LA or has in the past too. He clearly lives in a bad part of town currently and it has him pretty zoinked so I'd wager a guess he's had first hand experience with living in gang related/controlled areas too, it's not just an assumption he got from "the raps".

I regret sticking my nose in this though, I'm sure he can speak for himself and doesn't need me to do it for him. Your "the raps" comment just rubbed me the wrong way.
Yeah the "the raps" thing just came off racist as shit and that's why I can't reply to that dude no more, that made me mad.
 

redcrayon

Member
As someone who has served as well as contract work... shooting under a high stress situation and if he was at a slight off angle (but still in the way) with a hand gun, the slightest stress of movement can have your shots hit towards the ground, etc..

It also shows he was not 'shooting to kill' as well, since they were placed to seemingly disable the vehicle, and not the windshield or rear window, at the people in the car.

Fair point. I think we'd have to hear about exactly how competent his ability with his firearm was, while under stress and shooting at a moving target, before we start considering a factor of his surefire ability to shoot to disable a moving vehicle without harming the occupants though. He was firing under stress and could easily have killed them. If I was those kids parents I wouldn't be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt considering how quickly he moved to potentially lethal force.
 

wvnative

Member
But you already admitted he was a crazy man, so why can't we demonize him? Like you said, he makes the sensible gun owners look bad and if nothing comes out of it, it just further enables the behavior from people like him.

Perhaps I should have phrased in differently, earlier in the thread people were just going "lol dumb gun toteing Americans"

We should demonize him and his idiocy, but not the general gun owning community.
 

inner-G

Banned
Some random dude came up to me and my friends around a heavy lure area (a bunch of churches) and said "don't play your game down on my street". Like ok, I don't even know where you live buddy but you don't own the street and sidewalk so a group of people with phones out aren't going to be disturbing your peace anyways.
Caught a Scyther yesterday in some side street. Hope it was his.
Tell him you paid for the street
 

LiK

Member
The guy who shot will be arrested right? Not like he was defending himself.

if they weren't on his property then yea, he can be in trouble for shooting at people. seems like they were not in his property but just outside it if they were in their car.
 

Joei

Member
About a year ago I got careless and ran out of gas driving home and had to pull to the side of the road and was parked in front of a random house while I walked to get gas. I can't imagine what would have happened had this crazy fuck been around.
 

big_erk

Member
As someone who has served as well as contract work... shooting under a high stress situation and if he was at a slight off angle (but still in the way) with a hand gun, the slightest stress of movement can have your shots hit towards the ground, etc..

It also shows he was not 'shooting to kill' as well, since they were placed to seemingly disable the vehicle, and not the windshield or rear window, at the people in the car.

Uh huh, NO. It shows that his dumb ass can't shoot. This mentality that he was somehow justified for approaching the vehicle to investigate is asinine and is part of the problem. He could have observed to guys in the car from the safety of his home. If they made a move to violate his property, then he could have warned them off, but to approach a car parked on a public street, brandishing a firearm is ludicrous. If they had been armed, they would have been justified in shooting this stupid asshole. Instead, they apparently tried to drive off, only to be shot at.
 
A street is a public space. Stand Your Ground doesn't apply here. This man attacked two people on the street for assuming they were doing something wrong instead of calling the police. Are you saying I can't disagree with your opinion that this man can be judge, jury and executioner? Yeah, no, dude. "Don't use the street at night unless you want to get shot" is a really fine example of victim blaming.

Also, a Wal-Mart's parking lot is probably private property, since more often than not the space where parking lots are built are owned by the establishements. So, yeah, nice going there.

In my state you do have the right to stand your ground in a Public place. If you are being physically threatened you can use deadly force regardless of whether you are on public or private property.

That said, he was the individual that escalated it from a non-lethal situation into a lethal situation when he left the safety of his home to confront them with his gun drawn making demands. Based on my training that is not "stand your ground" as he became the aggressor by initiating the contact and initiating the force.
 

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
Living in the USA must be fun. Do something slightly weird - get shot

Its even worse for Black people in America.

Being afraid can't be used as an excuse for escalating things in a deadly way. Let's say that these kids really were robbers and potentially had weapons on them. What sense does it make to directly confront them while brandishing your own weapon instead of staying inside, calling the cops, and holding off on pulling out his gun until they started to advance onto his property? Even under the context of these kids having bad intentions, what this guy did was insanely stupid. There needs to be better education as to what is an acceptable situation to wield your gun and what isn't. If I'm going to live in a nation where people own guns, i would least like for there to be some enforced standards on what is responsible and what isn't.

Gun owners, even police, are not responsible owners of fire arms. In the heat of argument someone with a gun will want to kill someone and they have the means to do it. If someone has a gun their intention is to kill something whether its a beast or man. Having a gun for protection is such a fallacy.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Fair point. I think we'd have to hear about exactly how competent his ability with his firearm was before we start considering his surefire ability to shoot to disable a moving vehicle without harming the occupants though. He was firing under stress and could easily have killed them. If I was those kids parents I wouldn't be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt considering how quickly he moved to potentially lethal force.

You will not get an argument from me here.
 

LordRaptor

Member
If you really were in danger though, you'd be dead by the time cops showed up in most cases

Apart from the [citation needed] on that statement, if you're in genuine danger from 2 people in the makeshift cover that a car provides, how in the fuck are you safer going out into the open with a gun?
You think you can bullet time back into cover and pop off a couple of headshots before either of them can react?
How does that even begin to make sense?

e:
We should demonize him and his idiocy, but not the general gun owning community.

Oh, right, it would be unfair to assume everyone who owns a gun is a moron with a hero complex whose first option in conflict resolution is to escalate for going for a gun, but its totally legitimate to assume anyone in a parked car in a residential area at night is a homicidal criminal?

What in the actual fuck?
 

benson827

Banned
Are you kidding me ?!!
Are you also for shooting people when they sleep in their car in public area because you're total paranoia like this case ??

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191323&page=1

The kids were not trepassing his property, to make him come out with a gun. Calling cops should've been the first thing to do instead.

Don't mind him. He is just one of the many dumb Americans that give America the bad name it has now. This country really needs proper lessons to gun usage or even better a complete ban on it. Shoot first, ask later mentality. Thank God I left this country so many years ago
 

Wiped89

Member
America is the most tragic country in the 'developed' world.

Someone's outside my house! Better approach them with my gun! WTF

If someone was parked outside my house, I literally wouldn't even do anything. My whole street is full of parked cars that come and go at all sorts of times and I wouldn't for one second perceive two people in a car as some sort of threat, let alone approach them, let alooone with a gun.

Honestly, America is ridiculous and its entire culture is fucked.
 

Chaos17

Member
About a year ago I got careless and ran out of gas driving home and had to pull to the side of the road and was parked in front of a random house while I walked to get gas. I can't imagine what would have happened had this crazy fuck been around.

I'm glad for you that you didn't met anyone like him.
I can't imagine too, so scary.
 

HardRojo

Member
Shouldn't you call the police in cases like this? Fucking hell, "A random car is out of my property, let me just take my gun and fire at it because it's speeding away".
 

Apathy

Member
Yeah but "the raps" shit just seemed so uncalled for. For all we know he lives in LA or has in the past too. He clearly lives in a bad part of town currently and it has him pretty zoinked so I'd wager a guess he's had first hand experience with living in gang related/controlled areas too, it's not just an assumption he got from "the raps".

I regret sticking my nose in this though, I'm sure he can speak for himself and doesn't need me to do it for him. Your "the raps" comment just rubbed me the wrong way.


Still doesn't make sense. I said he probably only thought gangs in LA exist in Inglewood, Compton and Watts because that's what popular west coast rap would would say as they are talking about their neighborhoods. The fact that there are plenty of gangs in other parts of the city, in fact in more places than not, that most people in LA live in parts that have gang activity. If he thinks I lived in a part of the city where ms13, blood or crips don't hang around, then that is unfamiliarity with the reality if los Angeles and getting miss information from the media.
 

ResoRai

Member
Oh god...the people saying that it was OK to walk out of the house and investigate the vehicle with a gun in hand.

Now wonder this dumb shit happens all the time. Idiots.
Not in hand, but holstered would've been alright imo.
There's probably plenty of people who do that, we just don't hear about it because they have common sense, unlike this man.
 

benson827

Banned
America is the most tragic country in the 'developed' world.

Someone's outside my house! Better approach them with my gun! WTF

If someone was parked outside my house, I literally wouldn't even do anything. My whole street is full of parked cars that come and go at all sorts of times and I wouldn't for one second perceive two people in a car as some sort of threat, let alone approach them, let alooone with a gun.

Honestly, America is ridiculous and its entire culture is fucked.

Yeah this.
Seeing this from perspective of living in another country now is just fucked. Plenty of people park on my street outside my house. Never have I woken up or even looked outside window when there is noise outside my house. The society in Sydney just doesn't have any notion of this whole gotta defend my property and stay off my lawn mentally. Let alone, these kids were not even on his property. Kids come by daily knocking on doors for fundraisers etc. Can't imaging living in a society where I would be afraid of them being shot doing something like that.
 
No, "we" don't, because I do not live my life like those who deserve to be ridiculed. You do not paint a brush for all regions for those who are extremists, so same should not be for a nation of people.

What human beings need to start doing with that intellectual brainpan of theirs, is not buy into the narratives and sensational programming in the media, and start thinking wiser like we are all capable of, and only hold those who are deserving accountable, not the entire populace.

Oh okay, you're focused on getting indignant over generalizations rather than acknowledging why people feel they need to generalize in the first place.

We've frequently seen that someone can get shot for absolutely no reason virtually anywhere and at any time in the U.S. That's the takeaway when someone says "Americans have a problem with guns," not getting huffy about that person not making a distinction between "the few bad apples" and everyone else. People generalizing about the country can't delineate between the "good ones," and the. "bad ones," when the proliferation of guns, violence and paranoia are perpetuated/galvanized by laws, top to bottom.

It is a problem we all share in this country, and none of us actually get to opt out of it, no matter how much we wish we could. We don't get to exist in a vacuum and separate ourselves just because we're irritable when it comes to hearing criticism of the country. Can't get pissed at people for making observations. Direct your impotent frustration in the right directions, no matter how little power or responsibility you feel you have, not at the people rightfully calling out the problems.
 

coughlanio

Member
Try harder.

It literally is an American thing. This isn't something that happens elsewhere in the world, kids don't get shot at for being kids, you don't get shot for being black, you don't get shot for being a cop. Acting like America doesn't have a problem is precisely the reason America has a problem. You are part of the problem.
 

Razmos

Member
As someone who has served as well as contract work... shooting under a high stress situation and if he was at a slight off angle (but still in the way) with a hand gun, the slightest stress of movement can have your shots hit towards the ground, etc..

It also shows he was not 'shooting to kill' as well, since they were placed to seemingly disable the vehicle, and not the windshield or rear window, at the people in the car.
Trying to disable a vehicle with a handgun? Does that shit even work outside of movies?
 

dan2026

Member
A friend of mine just found this. Seems appropriate.

ksp19GB.jpg
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
It literally is an American thing. This isn't something that happens elsewhere in the world, kids don't get shot at for being kids, you don't get shot for being black, you don't get shot for being white. Acting like America doesn't have a problem is precisely the reason America has a problem. You are part of the problem.

Ok, if you say so, lol.

Violence and hatred is in every country all over the world.

Where did I act like American does not have issues, compared to those who think issues are exclusive to America?

Lol, I can't even.

Trying to disable a vehicle with a handgun? Does that shit even work outside of movies?

99% of the time... no, lol.

Oh okay, you're focused on getting indignant over generalizations rather than acknowledging why people feel they need to generalize in the first place.

We've frequently seen that someone can get shot for absolutely no reason virtually anywhere and at any time in the U.S. That's the takeaway when someone says "Americans have a problem with guns," not getting huffy about that person not making a distinction between "the few bad apples" and everyone else. People generalizing about the country can't delineate between the "good ones," and the. "bad ones," when the proliferation of guns, violence and paranoia are perpetuated/galvanized by laws, top to bottom.

It is a problem we all share in this country, and none of us actually get to opt out of it, no matter how much we wish we could. We don't get to exist in a vacuum and separate ourselves just because we're irritable when it comes to hearing criticism of the country. Can't get pissed at people for making observations. Direct your impotent frustration in the right directions, no matter how little power or responsibility you feel you have, not at the people rightfully calling out the problems.

Making blanket generalizations also creates ignorance and bigotry and muddles the message.

I do not point fingers at a local philanthropist doing things to better people and say, "you are to blame as well, because you live here"... I focus the efforts on the issues and those that are to blame, and not tip toe for the sake of anything PC or feelings.

Are you comfortable blaming all of a region due to their 'extremists' actions that are cropping up more frequently? Because clearly the 'guilt by association or that society' can apply there, can it not with this line of thinking?
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Florida. Always point your gun first and ask questions second. America..what a wonderful country
 

kinggroin

Banned
The story was explained to me as kids on the property at 1:30am, he comes out with a gun to investigate (hears suspicious chattering), they rush off to the car when they see he has a gun, they almost run him over and he fires to stop the vehicle.
 

Armaros

Member
Ok, if you say so, lol.

Violence and hatred is in every country all over the world.

Where did I act like American does not have issues, compared to those who think issues are exclusive to America.

Lol, I can't even.



99% of the time... no, lol.

Other similar nations have issues with people going out of the way to confront people with guns?

Especially with your nonsensical defense of 'shooting to disable', when you don't know what is going on.
 
Are you kidding me ?!!
Are you also for shooting people when they sleep in their car in public area because you're total paranoia like this case ??

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191323&page=1

The kids were not trepassing his property, to make him come out with a gun. Calling cops should've been the first thing to do instead.

Agree and again I want to stress that even if they had been trespassing on his property that alone is not sufficient cause to use deadly force. We were taught not to pursue someone if they had just robbed our house. We were also taught if someone broke in and was leaving your house with your property that you are not justified to use deadly force. He should have called the cops if he felt they were being suspicious while remaining safely inside his home.

If he would have followed this we wouldn't be having this discussion.
 

wvnative

Member
Apart from the [citation needed] on that statement, if you're in genuine danger from 2 people in the makeshift cover that a car provides, how in the fuck are you safer going out into the open with a gun?
You think you can bullet time back into cover and pop off a couple of headshots before either of them can react?
How does that even begin to make sense?

e:


Oh, right, it would be unfair to assume everyone who owns a gun is a moron with a hero complex whose first option in conflict resolution is to escalate for going for a gun, but its totally legitimate to assume anyone in a parked car in a residential area at night is a homicidal criminal?

To be entirely honest I don't even know, was this a typical neighborhood area? If so, exactly how close were they to his home? You gotta understand, I've always lived in extremely rural areas, everywhere I've lived, ANY car parked on the street would not be normal and would be major cause to go to red alert, but I didn't even think about what kind of area he lives in.
 

DMTripper

Member
Personal protection.

God it must be awful to live somewhere that you feel so unsafe that you have to own a gun.

It's amazing that countries where guns are hard to get have far, far less gun crime, shootings, mass shootings etc.

Weird isn't it?


Edit.. And the victim blaming in this thread, holy fuck :-(
 

coughlanio

Member
Ok, if you say so, lol.

Violence and hatred is in every country all over the world.

Where did I act like American does not have issues, compared to those who think issues are exclusive to America.

Lol, I can't even.

I've never experienced violence, or hatred. I haven't seen a gun, or held a gun in my life. The chances of me being shot in both my home country (or even the rest of Europe) and my current country are virtually zero. Gun crime is a massive issue in the US, where it isn't in most other parts of the world.
 

benson827

Banned
Trying to disable a vehicle with a handgun? Does that shit even work outside of movies?

Wait, was he really trying to justify shooting. Ever heard of stray bullets that dont hit their target and ends up hitting the guy across the street in his bed? Yeah, no. Firing, holstering or even leaving his property to approach with a firearm was not the right idea lol. Simply call the cops if you genuinely feel in danger and observe from within your house. LOL this country... Almost like its some third world Brazil favella or something
 
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