This speaks volumes.

If anyone is listening.

Nice policy...one that leaves an obviously criminal seven year old child in critical condition.


Couple shoot four mistakenly thought trespassing
Article from: The Sunday Telegraph
May 10, 2009 12:00am

A COUPLE is accused of opening fire and wounding four people - including a 7-year-old boy and a girl, 5, who they mistakenly thought were trespassing on their property.

The victims, who were off-roading near a residential area about 64 kilometres northeast of Houston, were struck with shotgun pellets after stopping their vehicles near the Trinity River so the children could go to the toilet, said Liberty County Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor.

Off-roading is a hobby that involves driving vehicles on unpaved areas, such as fields or riverbeds.
Police said resident Sheila Muhs, 45, fired once with a 12-gauge shotgun then handed it to her husband, Gayle Muhs, also 45.

DeFoor said Sheila Muhs called a police emergency dispatcher and said, "They're out here tearing up the levee, so I shot them.''

The Muhs have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and remained in jail.

The Muhs don't have an attorney yet to comment on their case, DeFoor said.

Donald Coffey Jr., the seven-year-old boy, was shot in the head and was in critical condition.

Patrick Cammack, a friend of the boy's father who was driving in a separate vehicle, also was shot in the head and was in critical condition.

Donald Coffey Sr., 36, had a pellet wound in his right shoulder. His daughter, 5-year-old Destiny, was shot in the elbow but was in good condition.

After the shootings, Coffey's wife took the wheel and drove the family's sport utility vehicle to a nearby fire station, where the victims were taken by helicopter to a hospital.

DeFoor said the shots were fired from about 36 metres away. DeFoor said the victims were unarmed.

"The levee is not private property, it belongs to the subdivision,'' said DeFoor. "Even if they were on the levee, it's not a shootable offense. It's ludicrous to shoot someone for going to the bathroom on the side of the road.''

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25455992-5006003,00.html

Please visit the site for a picture of the shooters and the sign in their front yard which reads, "TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT SURVIVORS. WILL BE RESHOT!! SMILE I WILL"

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/223225

and the couple is in jail and possible murder charges against them will be filed

i see a couple who needs to be in jail.i see people scared of the border problems such as rape,kidnapping,drug wars,its a sad thing this happened.they belong in jail with illegal drug trafficers and rapest and murderers.however it doesnt make it right nor give a pass to illegals who treaspass on private land.nor does this one incident deprive law biding citizens the right to responsabally protect there property.

mark...it wasn't their property though. it was public property. and they are in jail where they belong

More than likely they will be charged with assault with a deadly weapons charge since there were no fatalities.

The thing that sucks is that idiots driving 4 x 4s on a levee deserve to be shot at because the impact damaging them can have on the community around them. (THE parents, not the kids!)

The thing is the county needs to charge the people driving a 4 X 4 on the levee with criminal negligence at least. They were being stupid! They could have caused a huge flood.

If you see the link to the other thread, you will find that the 7 year old did pass away.

no hun...the little boy died. the link i posted was about him dying. that is why they could be facing murder charges

Those people should never have been shot.

IMO...the couple should have called the cops on them because it wasn't their property anyway

I find it very disturbing that people don't think anything about shooting people just because they are on somebody's property or they think that they're on somebody's property. It troubles me to know that there are people out there like that - just pull out a gun and shoot what ever is moving out there on the property.

I personaly don't agree with this couple and their stupidity. i hope they get the max

A seven year old child?

Off roading a popular pastime?

Public property?

Possible erosion...now there is a reason to shoot and kill.

Why?

Remember teh flooding Ohio suffered recently? They managed to dike up a levee and a stupid animal burrowed into it and caused uncontrollable mass flooding that wiped a huge chunk of the state. Now granted that was Ohio and an animal.


Now to Texas...

They have experienced some pretty spectacular flooding. People living near Levees are particularly scared these days of getting flooded out especially because of some idiots.

Granted shooting at them was not the brightest thing to do. The Texas Rangers should have arrested the family driving a 4 X 4 on a levee for criminal stupidity! What they done was essentially put a whole community at risk.

The couple shooting at them are going to face the justice system but in all fairness the family that got shot at needs to face up for their stupidity too in ALL fairness! I feel sorry for the kids getting caught in the middle and the loss of life is tragic but likewise stupid people sometimes find wisdom comes at a terrible price.

The shooters had every right to fear loosing their homes to a flood caused by such idiots taking a 4 x 4 where they shouldn't. Nobody in this mess was thinking. For as much as I would like to feel for the family that lost a child I can't. I feel more sorry for the children caught in this because it was their parents that got them into the mess they are now in.

If you think the couple shooting at them are horrible people try stumbling on an RV in the middle of nowhere being used for a Meth lab.

There are just too many stupid people in this world. Nobody uses their heads any more for anything other than a place to put a hat.

Humm so, if I live in Texas and I see a company dumping chemicals upstream from my house I can take out the gun the shoot and kill the waste operator or the company president? After all they are a danger to me.

Or if I see someone drop a pen I might trip on and fall I guess I could shoot that offender too.

Oh, maybe I should shoot the gray haired lady driving too slow on the freeway because she represents a threat to me and the other drivers on the road too.

Your argument is crap.

Now...had the couple been dynamiting the levee as flood waters approached then I suppose you could argue that the couple were protecting their lives and property.

Here is one spiffy thing about Texas...if there is any justice that man and his wife can die too at the hands of the state. Let's see if Texas has the...well...let's see

I have already posted the Texas laws before. NO...people can't just shoot for things like that

Uh oh, someone is putting words in my mouth!


All I am saying is that because of levees busting lately people near them are extra scared.
Like I said they should have called the Texas Rangers (who are the state police if I remember correctly, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong!)



So if I may pose a question to you. If there were a big red button that activated a real dooms day device and some smart ass threatened to push it what would you do?


Me? I would show that a@@ hole how funny I thought threatening our asses like that would be to me. Do not compare the two acting out of fear of something that could happen is one thing. Acting because you know there are dire consequences involved is whole another. This was people acting out of fear more than likely and it manifested in anger.

Oregon is a state where if property is properly posted you can shoot trespassers as well. The law is pretty clear cut about it there. they don't just give people an excuse to shoot at one another. If they did we would be hearing of dozens of shootings a week from up there. Texas likewise is a whole different place and I hope this is not a veiled attempt of pointing at Texas and accusing them of being gun toting nut cases. How about LA where you can get shot just walking down the street for no reason? Same for NY, Chicago, Miami?

"Its not the gun that kills but the man behind,"
Quote, Jethro Tull, song: 'I'm Your Gun'

Fear and anger combined make all of us idiotic.