splashhopper Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Was sitting in the living room watching the TV with my wife and daughter and here a loud PING right behind my head on the living room window. Upon closer inspection,,,, a little bullet hole ! I look out and there is two kids playing with a pellet gun... I get a real quick look at the clothes and then run out the door to confront them. I went through the neighbors back yard and there they are. Playing ball hockey all innocent like in the driveway in front of the garage. I yell at the kid and ask what the hell he is doing shooting up my window with his pellet gun not knowing his dad was in the garage! Dad comes flying out of the garage and start giving his kid crap and telling him that he has just cost their family MORE Money. Then the dad immediately turns to me and asks if anyone was hurt. No thank goodness. He grabs the pellet gun and takes it in to the house. While the dad is in the house for about 45 seconds the kid looks at me with a REAL SMIRK on his face as if to say : what the hell are u gonna do about it, I am just a kid! The dad immediately accepts responsibility and comes with me to look at the window. I get his number and address and then we get the property manager on the phone with him as well. He tells her that he is accepting responsibility as well. ( we'll see) I then tell the father about the kids attitude with me and he tells me that is the same problem the teachers are complaining about at his school. I go back in the house and my wife is PISSED when i tell her about the kids attitude. She tells me to call the police. At first I didn't want to because the dad is taking responsibility. But hey, I do want to sleep in the same bed as my wife so I call the police. . They tell me that it is a by law infraction and will be over at 9:30 to look at the window and take a report. They will then be confiscating the gun. Now my wife is happy... sort of. She then says, what if the kid is a real S>O>B and decides to throw a rock through the window... to pay us back for the grief that is coming to their house later tonite.... I just hope the parents don;t get charged with this... or maybe I do hope they get charged,,, i don't know how I feel about that yet... I mean the guy accepted responsibility for kids actions and all. For now, I am just keeping our family away from that window and have informed the neighbors on both sides about the situation. I am headed out for an "A"titude "A"djustment and will be back to deal with the police. Stay tuned. I will keep u updated as this plays out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinnerbaitking Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Glad to hear every body was OK you never know what could have happened & I would have Phoned the COPS too, hopefully they take the Gun & you won't have to worry about it again, likely end up with a slap on the wrist Good Luck Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmaster4 Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 man, i dont know about calling the police the guy took responsibility thats probably what he was trying to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 man, i dont know about calling the police the guy took responsibility thats probably what he was trying to avoid. That was my thought as well. If I was going to call the cops I would have been upfront with the dad about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikehunter Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 That was my thought as well. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nroadrunner Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I agree the visit to the father or the cops but not both.......( I live in a small town where I know all my neighbours for a couple kilometers so my opinion is skewed) Having said that I fully understand the logic behind doing what the wife says, as it could have beena looooonnnnnggggg week otherwise. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 i woulda called the cops....as long as the pellet gun is in the house the kid will find it and use it again.what if it had of been a .22 or a shotgun.Authorities must be involved and the seriousness of this must be stressed upon the parent as well as the child.Sad fact is that these punks are just as dangerous if not more dangerous than an adult.They know they wont be prosecuted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom McCutcheon Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 That was my thought as well. If I was going to call the cops I would have been upfront with the dad about it. I understand the dilema you feel, however it could be that the parents have been "buying" the little brat out of trouble for quite some time and he will never learn his lesson. This is a firearm so to speak and it is better that the kid learns about being responsible for his actions now rather than later when he may cause serious injury to someone. Good luck. Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTHM Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 (edited) I don't think I could have been as restrained as you were. The kid would of had some memory of my hands.... Edited October 18, 2010 by HTHM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 i woulda called the cops....as long as the pellet gun is in the house the kid will find it and use it again.what if it had of been a .22 or a shotgun.Authorities must be involved and the seriousness of this must be stressed upon the parent as well as the child.Sad fact is that these punks are just as dangerous if not more dangerous than an adult.They know they wont be prosecuted. I like the concept of people taking responsibility for their own actions. Or in this case for those who they're guardians of. I would have at least given the father the opportunity to set his kid straight. After all it's up to us as parents to raise them properly. Nobody else is going to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctdd2006 Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I like the concept of people taking responsibility for their own actions. Or in this case for those who they're guardians of. I would have at least given the father the opportunity to set his kid straight. After all it's up to us as parents to raise them properly. Nobody else is going to do it. I agree. By the way the conversation with "dad" apppeared to go, it sounds like he would have taken care of things and that gun was history! It's an unfortunate situation, but at the end of the day they are your neighbors and you're going to have to live next door! I hope it all plays out well for you though.... Dad may not be as quick to to help in the replacement though!? I'd also be calling my insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashhopper Posted October 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 To all those that say I shouldn't have called the police I ask you this: There is one piece in my original post that said: " I then tell the father about the kids attitude with me and he tells me that is the same problem the teachers are complaining about at his school." The dad also told me that if i didn't see the kid around for a few days it would be because he was being sent off to his uncle because he( the dad) couldn't handle him anymore. My wife hit it on the head, if the kid was respectful he wouldn't have the arrogant attitude about him. We have a saying in the recovery world: bring the bottom UP and maybe save a life or two. It would be very interesting to have the police officers that frequent this board to offer up there experience with the young offenders. Bottom line, I am not interested in having ANY parent charged that takes responsibility for their kids. The law will decide that, not me and my FEELINGS. Stay tuned, the police are due here anytime now( 9:30pm Oct 18) Splashhopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 I have 5 children and 11 grandchildren...won't be long that'll I'll be a great grandfather as well. I've looked after kids all my life. The best thing I can think of when something like that happens is to grab the kid and have a heart to heart. Sit on the sidewalk with the kid....tell him how you feel about stuff. It'll usually turn out that the kid will become a best friend. But hey, that's just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Gee Roy... do you want a 6th as I could use a good talk on the curb today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 I don't think I could have been as restrained as you were. The kid would of had some memory of my hands.... That's the fathers job, not yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 No worries Wayne...let's use a suburb sidewalk ok? Less spit and crap on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 It's already been mentioned, but you do have to live with these people as neighbours. If you intended to call the police you should have told the man when he came over to talk with you. People need to handle stuff like this themselves rather than call the police, complain to the OFC mod's or whatever. I think Roy expressed my sentiments a little more eloquently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTHM Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) That's the fathers job, not yours. I agree, however knowing how upset I can get; I stand by what i said, I admire the restraint that Splashhopper had at the time. I don't know if I could have had as much self-control in the heat of the moment. Edited October 19, 2010 by HTHM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splashhopper Posted October 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Police just left. THEY told me I did the right thing. ( pretty smart wife I have eh ! ) They gave me a report # in case the dad isn't a stand up guy and doesn't pay for the window. They also confirmed that there is a bylaw that forbids the discharge of firearms in the city, so this gun will be removed from the home tonight. I also told them I was not interested in having the parents charged for anything but did want the kid to feel the consequences of HIS OWN actions. And as I re-iterated in my previous post, the dad admitted that he couldn't handle his own kid anymore and would likely send him off to an uncle. Maybe that wasn't too clear to some of the responders in this thread. Thanks for all the input. Splashhopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanook Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 " DAD" could have destroyed the pellet gun and maybe curbed anymore situations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctdd2006 Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 I still don't agree and say you'd best be calling your insurance. I really do hope it all works out for you...good luck with this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Dad will send the child off to an uncle eh? Explains a lot...you did a good deed there Splashie. WTG! Maybe you can get a good deal on the pellet gun at the auction too! Hope your piece of glass gets fixed cause we all know that that's the important thing. Sleep well, Ron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Police just left. THEY told me I did the right thing. ( pretty smart wife I have eh ! ) They gave me a report # in case the dad isn't a stand up guy and doesn't pay for the window. They also confirmed that there is a bylaw that forbids the discharge of firearms in the city, so this gun will be removed from the home tonight. I also told them I was not interested in having the parents charged for anything but did want the kid to feel the consequences of HIS OWN actions. And as I re-iterated in my previous post, the dad admitted that he couldn't handle his own kid anymore and would likely send him off to an uncle. Maybe that wasn't too clear to some of the responders in this thread. Thanks for all the input. Splashhopper You did the right thing bud..If it was a stone or a baseball I'm thinking it may have turned out differently.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercman Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 its truly unfortunate but there are lots of parents who havent a clue how to handle there children.It shouldn't necessarilly reflect on the parent. Children are faced with unimaginable pressures from the school mates.They have become acclimatized to violence and are constantly pressured to join gangs or groups for acceptance and protection.Its alot tougher today than when i was a kid. However, sending the kid to live somewhere else is not solving the problem and will probably result in more resentments and feelings of abandonment. I don't know how old this kid was, but maybe the father and son should have been required to take a gun safety course together as a result of this, so that both of them will have more rerspect for each other and the gun that caused this. Hehould also be made to appologize to you Ron, in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Cops should have sat the kid in the back of the car for a little while. Nothing like pissing your pants in the back of a cop car to straighten you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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