US girl, 10, killed by falling bullet on NYE

[Grayfox]

A 10-year-old girl in the US has died after being struck by a stray bullet fired in the air during New Year's celebrations.

Aaliyah Boyer was watching midnight fireworks outside a home in Elkton, Maryland, south of Philadelphia, when she was struck in the head by a falling bullet.

Adults initially believed Aaliyah had passed out and hit her head, but the bullet wound was discovered when she arrived at hospital.

She was taken off life support on Thursday morning and her organs have been donated to other children.

Police are now conducting interviews over an 8km radius in the hopes of finding the person responsible.

"They need to pay for what they did, for all these people that they hurt," Aaliyah's mother Crystal Blackburn said.


"She was just having fun, watching fireworks outside with her family, celebrating the New Year."

While her family were at hospital with her, a burglar broke into their Pennsylvania home and stole their Christmas presents.

They also believe strangers are trying to gather money for a fake fund for the girl over Facebook.​

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/01/04/11/37/us-girl-10-killed-by-falling-bullet-on-new-years

 

[a6m5]

I thought the falling bullets being lethal was a myth?

*Edit - Other articles I found says "stray" bullet, which is likely.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Haven't you wanted Mythbusters? They put this to the test, although it's been a while since I've seen the episode, can't remember the results. May have been "plausible".

 

[Tesla]

Ban guns.

""They need to pay for what they did, for all these people that they hurt,” said Crystal Blackburn, Aaliyah’s mother."

One girl? It was a freak accident. This type of celebratory gunfire kills two people every year. The chances of this happening are absolutely tiny. All of my sympathy goes towards her parents, but I don't think anyone will be charged.

PS: Grayfox, when was the last time you posted an article that wasn't about the dangers of guns?

 

[a6m5]

Probably a drunk, idiot, or both. I hope they catch whoever is responsible. He'll never be able to legally own a firearm again.

Feel so bad for the parents. Stuff like this happen everyday, but it's still heartbreaking to think about what her family's going through.

 

[MK1 MR2 lover]

@r1600turbo and a6m5, Im pretty sure it was plausible. Speeking from my own experience though, I live in SOCAL and I've heard it reported by the news numerous times that in bad neighborhoods I.E. Compton, Watts, Inglewood etc. around times of celebrations like new years and cinco de mayo many people have been hit and killed by falling bullets, yes falling and not stray. This also goes for other people who doubt you could be hit or killed by one.

"Between the years 1985 and 1992, doctors at the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, treated some 118 people for random falling-bullet injuries. Thirty-eight of them died." -Wikipedia

 

[Samus]

This type of celebratory gunfire kills two people every year.

That is two too many in my book. Celebratory gunfire is just a ridiculous idea, there are hundreds of other ways to celebrate something that doesn't have the chance of killing someone. No matter how you use it a gun is a deadly weapon that shouldn't be used as a means of celebration.

Nothing needs banning but people need to be less stupid when it comes to celebrating something like the new year. Getting a gun and firing it into the air shouldn't be something that crosses your mind unless you're an idiot.

 

[MK1 MR2 lover]

That is two too many in my book. Celebratory gunfire is just a ridiculous idea, there are hundreds of other ways to celebrate something that doesn't have the chance of killing someone. No matter how you use it a gun is a deadly weapon that shouldn't be used as a means of celebration.

Nothing needs banning but people need to be less stupid when it comes to celebrating something like the new year. Getting a gun and firing it into the air shouldn't be something that crosses your mind unless you're an idiot.

Seconded

 

[DustDriver]

Why don't they use blanks for that kind of stuff?

And to be honest, I don't see much difference between this and people getting injured/killed due to other peoples fireworks.
Stupid and/or drunk people don't mix well with explosives.

 

[homeforsummer]

I'm not one of the "ban guns" brigade, but this:

Celebratory gunfire is just a ridiculous idea

...is pretty much how I feel on the matter. You have to be a special kind of moron to fire willy-nilly into the air as a celebration and expect there to be zero consequences.

Of course, fireworks are occasionally dangerous too, and I'm sure people have lost their eye to a party popper or broken their neck while celebrating drunk, but really there are better ways to celebrate than firing live rounds into the air.

PS: Grayfox, when was the last time you posted an article that wasn't about the dangers of guns?

He posted about dogs being taught to drive, if that helps?

 

[Zenith]

I'm going to post a new thread in the Opinions section every time a gun is used to defend an innocent life. There will probably be about 3 per week.

Actually I'm not because this passive-aggressive method of trying to prove my point while neglecting to acknowledge the existence of the other side of the issue makes GTP a worse place to be.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Actually I'm not because this passive-aggressive method of trying to prove my point while neglecting to acknowledge the existence of the other side of the issue makes GTP a worse place to be.

Can you maybe understand why it's frustrating to debate specific subjects with you when you only ever address them in general terms? For instance, when discussing the concealed carrying of guns in schools, you only ever talk about the concept of concealed carrying.

It's not passive-aggressive to ask that you actually discuss the subject in more than general terms.

 

[Azuremen]

Can you maybe understand why it's frustrating to debate specific subjects with you when you only ever address them in general terms?

I can't help but find a mild bit of irony in this statement, coming from you.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Celebratory gunfire is just a ridiculous idea,

I'd go further and say it is idiotic and retarded.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I can't help but find a mild bit of irony in this statement, coming from you.

Why, because I only address the points that I feel are most pertinent to the discussion?

 

[MarcoM]

Using guns for celebrating..... I thought that happened in the wild west and east.

Yeah, gun control. Give in only to sensible people.

Sorry for the girl and her parrents.

 

[Azuremen]

Why, because I only address the points that I feel are most pertinent to the discussion?

Rarely have I seen you do this, and even rarer without some baseless assumptions or extrapolations from what others have said. You tend to polarize ideas to extremes and just ignore details you can't or won't address.

 

[Zenith]

Can you maybe understand why it's frustrating to debate specific subjects with you when you only ever address them in general terms? For instance, when discussing the concealed carrying of guns in schools, you only ever talk about the concept of concealed carrying.

It's not passive-aggressive to ask that you actually discuss the subject in more than general terms.

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/11/17/victim_shoots_robber.html

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/bios/story/conceal-and-carry-stabbing-salt-lake-city-smiths/NDNrL1gxeE2rsRhrWCM9dQ.cspx

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2012/11/mitchell_deon_tucker_20_shot_w.php

http://wtkr.com/2012/11/30/autozone-employee-fired-after-taking-action-against-fake-beard-bandit/

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/apexchange/2012/12/10/oh--robber-killed.html

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=23445000&nid=148&title=pastor-pulls-gun-on-unsuspecting-burglar&s_cid=queue-14

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/12/22/police-say-1-dead-3-wounded-in-sac-home-invasion/

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/oct/23/11/gaffney-store-clerk-shoots-robber-armed-rifle-ar-4812366/

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_21808607/no-charges-fickle-hill-shooting

http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story/Ohio-Man-Shoots-Intruder-Who-Falls-Two-Stories/4Rt276Kum0mSEHjUPwmQjQ.cspx

http://spokanevalley.kxly.com/news/crime/85162-man-shot-homeowner-self-defense

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/apollo-beach-man-fatally-shot-in-confrontation-often-riled-neighbors/1257287

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/10/accused_robber_shot_by_cabbie.html

http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/265730/45/Elyria-Home-invader-shot-killed-by-homeowner

http://www.newson6.com/story/19858704/12-year-old-girl-shoots-intruder-during-home-invasion

http://fox8.com/2012/10/19/homeowner-shoots-and-kills-burglar/

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8834506

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Salvage-yard-owner-shoots-burglary-suspect/-/1735978/16836346/-/xs759yz/-/index.html

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Burglar-shot-while-trying-to-break-into-car-parked-at-shooting-range-172907311.html

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/akron-would-be-robbers-take-off-when-victim-ccw-permit-holder-pulls-gun-on-them

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/28/us-germany-jews-idUSBRE88R0XN20120928

http://www.salina.com/news/story/neighbors-took-up-arms-101012

http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/02/2512030/armed-business-owner-thwarts-attempted.html

Here are some less general terms.

Edit: In one post to Joey D on the Teachers with Guns thread I gave three specific examples of defensive gun uses and I discussed aspects of the Clackamas, Giffords, Empire State Building, Rodney King, and Fort Hood shootings.

How is this only addressing guns in general terms?

 

[MarcoM]

Zenith, how do these stories relate to using guns for celebrating?

 

[arora]

Another gun thread? oh joy!

 

[Zenith]

It has to do with PM saying that I never discuss anything but general terms in discussions of guns and gun laws.

It has to do with flooding the Opinions section
with news stories that you hope will skew people's perception of how a certain object is used in the world.

I can. I don't.

 

[Keef]

Can you maybe understand why it's frustrating to debate specific subjects with you when you only ever address them in general terms? For instance, when discussing the concealed carrying of guns in schools, you only ever talk about the concept of concealed carrying.

Says the guy who seems to think the defense of one's own life should only be allowed in certain settings.

 

[Dennisch]

A murder by Nerf would be an awesome story, and a welcome change.

I could post here everyday with a new story of a single kill. This is how the world works, time to get used to it.

 

[Grayfox]

A murder by Nerf would be an awesome story, and a welcome change.

I could post here everyday with a new story of a single kill. This is how the world works, time to get used to it.

That would be quite funny.

Death via nerf gun.

 

[Blitz24]

That would be quite funny.

Death via nerf gun.

Sadly it will eventually happen. Human nature will eventually put themselves in the idiotic position of doing just that.

 

[G.T.Ace]

That is two too many in my book. Celebratory gunfire is just a ridiculous idea, there are hundreds of other ways to celebrate something that doesn't have the chance of killing someone. No matter how you use it a gun is a deadly weapon that shouldn't be used as a means of celebration.

Nothing needs banning but people need to be less stupid when it comes to celebrating something like the new year. Getting a gun and firing it into the air shouldn't be something that crosses your mind unless you're an idiot.

Why don't they use blanks for that kind of stuff?

And to be honest, I don't see much difference between this and people getting injured/killed due to other peoples fireworks.
Stupid and/or drunk people don't mix well with explosives.

There's nothing more to add.
Stupid people are stupid.

 

[Grayfox]

Sadly it will eventually happen. Human nature will eventually put themselves in the idiotic position of doing just that.

Sniper Rifle, Critical Hit

Even though the ammo of nerf guns are foam they can be lethal if abused as in removing the limiter of the nerf gun and adding a little extra weight to the ammo.

 

[Bram Turismo]

I actually got hit in the eye by a small nerf gun when I was playing with my little brother. It seriously hurt, even though it was foam and that was just the smallest gun they had we bought for him.

Just wait until crazy kids start showing up with these everywhere:

 

[Lucas]

One girl? It was a freak accident. This type of celebratory gunfire kills two people every year. The chances of this happening are absolutely tiny.

If it has happened before, why keep doing it?

For what I care, shooting a bullet into the air and killing someone is no different than having done it hundreds of times and killing hundreds of people.

 

[Danoff]

This is definitely spam with an obvious agenda. I'd like to ask you, Grayfox, to please consolidate these stories into one thread specifically about the real underlying topic that you're trying to influence with these (non)stories. Luckily, we already have such a thread.

In the future, rather than creating a new thread, please consider posting these in the gun thread - where this topic can be discussed in one searchable location.