Police chief, gun club indicted in boy’s Uzi death

[center442]

Being carried now on Yahoo's Home Page.

Yahoo Story on Westfield

 

[mikem317]

Oh-no. Not this shit again.

 

[drgrant]

1: Who are the other 2 dudes who got indicted?

2: Should we expect all 3 to be arrested soon?

According to one article it said they will not be arrested, but will probably get served papers to show up in court.

-Mike

 

[Mass-diver]

I'm not quite sure what this means, but it's strikes me as odd that is just about every article I've seen it doesn't mention that the boy's father is a doctor.

 

[Viking Kitten]

Christopher's father, Dr. Charles Bizilj of Ashford, Conn., and a firearms instructor were standing nearby when Christopher accidently shot and killed himself.

Why does it actually matter in what profession the child's father works?

 

[Bill Nance]

The rangemaster in this case was clearly negligent, as was the father. My bitch is that they went after the gun club (an obvious political prosecution) and the owner of the company (another obvious political prosecution).

Both the owner of the company and the gun-club will probably be acquitted or win on appeal, but that doesn't help their pocketbooks.

As for the Father, the SOB should be up on charges, and whoever the rangemaster was is equally as guilty. there's no way on earth that weapon should have been handed to an 8-year-old, and no responsible rangemaster should be handing a mini-uzi to ANYONE without proper supervision.

 

[hicksonj]

Some Involuntary Manslaughter Info

CHAPTER 265. CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON

Chapter 265: Section 13. Manslaughter; punishment

Section 13. Whoever commits manslaughter shall, except as hereinafter provided, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than twenty years or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and imprisonment in jail or a house of correction for not more than two and one half years. Whoever commits manslaughter while violating the provisions of sections one hundred and one to one hundred and two B, inclusive, of chapter two hundred and sixty-six shall be imprisoned in the state prison for life or for any term of years.

Involuntary manslaughter involves an unintentional unlawful killing.

Involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful homicide intentionally caused by an act which constitutes such disregard of the probable harmful consequences to another as to amount to wanton or reckless conduct.

There are two aspects of involuntary manslaughter:
1) Wanton and Reckless conduct causing Death;
2) Unintentional killing from a battery not amounting to a felony.

Involuntary manslaughter has been defined as "an unlawful homicide, unintentionally caused by an act which constitutes such a disregard of probable harmful consequences to another as to amount to wanton or reckless conduct."

For example, the intentional failure of the operators of the Coconut Grove ballroom to exercise care for the safety of their patrons was grounds for convictions of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of numerous patrons when fire broke out.

I don't believe there has been an indictment related to a firearms law violation. That said, those previously mentioned laws may be used to suggest a standard for reckless conduct by the prosecutor. Whether the conduct of the indicted parties conduct constitutes wanton or reckless conduct is a question of fact for the fact finder (usually a jury). It will be an uphill battle to fight the shock factor of the incident and "scary gun" factor for the defense team.

 

[M1911]

I'm not quite sure what this means, but it's strikes me as odd that is just about every article I've seen it doesn't mention that the boy's father is a doctor.

Almost all of the articles that I've seen said he was a doctor. Why does it matter? What do doctor's know about machine guns?

 

[Erebus]

Almost all of the articles that I've seen said he was a doctor. Why does it matter? What do doctor's know about machine guns?

I think the point is that doctor's, especially an ER doctor as I have seen him described, should be more conscience of what kind of damage a bullet can do and hence more apt to be careful.

 

[Bill Nance]

I think the point is that doctor's, especially an ER doctor as I have seen him described, should be more conscience of what kind of damage a bullet can do and hence more apt to be careful.

You don't have to be a doctor to know that handing an 8-year-old a machine pistol is f*cking insane. Even someone who knew nothing about firearms should have known better.

 

[gene]

If you as a father take your kid to a carnival, and the kid rides on a roller coaster, falls out and dies. Do you expect to be sued by the state? You did turn the kid over to the operator of the ride. According to what you are saying that is perfectly acceptable.

There is a big difference between a ride at a carnival and an UZI or any gun for that matter. The level of risk that should be expected it significantly higher than getting on a merry go round. The fathers judgement in my mind is questionable regardless of the how they find guilty either the operators and sponsors. The DA just doesn't want the baggage of bringing the father up on charges.

 

[hicksonj]

I don't know exactly how the event was presented, but the father could have relied on the promised security, control, and close-supervision presented at the event. 8 years old is quite young to even handle BB guns IMHO. This was a tragic accident, and hindsight is 20-20. The fact that gun did flip proves that they can flip in this way, and event promoters and supervisors experienced with this tendency should have focused on mitigating the danger. Everything has a risk, and when they can be managed, risky experiences can be very gratifying. The line between life and death here was one adult hand steadying the gun.

I think the point is that doctor's, especially an ER doctor as I have seen him described, should be more conscience of what kind of damage a bullet can do and hence more apt to be careful.

 

[gene]

By the way! Lets not forget that according to previous known and disclosed information from the father, when this first occurred, this was not the kids or the fathers first shoot and MAY NOT have been their first MG shoot either.

Just to keep things into perspective!

 

[EddieCoyle]

The blaming and second guessing wrt this tragedy that's been going on here is sickening.

I'm probably going to end up locking this thread just like the last one.

 

[News Shooter]

The blaming and second guessing wrt this tragedy that's been going on here is sickening.

I'm probably going to end up locking this thread just like the last one.

As an irresponsible and stupid father who taught my sons to shoot when they were six and took them to many machine gun shoots at a young age with absolutely nothing happening except a lot of fun...I say


LOCK IT!!!!!

 

[RG617]

Some Involuntary Manslaughter Info
I don't believe there has been an indictment related to a firearms law violation. That said, those previously mentioned laws may be used to suggest a standard for reckless conduct by the prosecutor. Whether the conduct of the indicted parties conduct constitutes wanton or reckless conduct is a question of fact for the fact finder (usually a jury). It will be an uphill battle to fight the shock factor of the incident and "scary gun" factor for the defense team.

Four counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. I know it's a big thread, but it's all in here somewhere if you look.

 

[lemonlime571]

I think this whole situation is bad to begin with. With that said, Any time an 8 year old is killed by a gun be it accident or no, expect nothing less than pressure toward the DA to make someone's head roll for it. It just so happens that this time it is the C.O P.

 

[hicksonj]

Duly noted... Those are most likely bargaining chips for a plea.

Four counts of furnishing a machine gun to a minor. I know it's a big thread, but it's all in here somewhere if you look.

 

[M1911]

I think the point is that doctor's, especially an ER doctor as I have seen him described, should be more conscience of what kind of damage a bullet can do and hence more apt to be careful.

Huh? He's a doctor. He's admitted that he didn't know about guns. This was a public event where every shooter was supposed to be supervised by an instructor. It was reasonable for him to think that the instructors had the technical knowledge to keep the participants safe. He did not have that technical knowledge. He didn't know that a micro-uzi would climb like a son of a gun if you didn't hold onto it properly, and that an 8-year-old probably doesn't have the strength to do so. That's the instructor's job.

 

[sig2009]

Did you really think anything less would happen to these people? Don't prosecute the father but everyone else. That's Ma. for ya.

 

[M1911]

You don't have to be a doctor to know that handing an 8-year-old a machine pistol is f*cking insane. Even someone who knew nothing about firearms should have known better.

Huh? You know a lot about guns. The average person on the street doesn't know the difference between a semi-automatic "assault weapon" and a selective fire assault rifle. The average person on the street doesn't know WTF you mean when you say "machine pistol." They don't know that an micro-uzi is harder to control than a full-size M16. The micro-uzi is smaller, so they think it is easier. You and I know that the exact opposite is true. They don't.

 

[News Shooter]

Huh? He's a doctor. He's admitted that he didn't know about guns. This was a public event where every shooter was supposed to be supervised by an instructor. It was reasonable for him to think that the instructors had the technical knowledge to keep the participants safe. He did not have that technical knowledge. He didn't know that a micro-uzi would climb like a son of a gun if you didn't hold onto it properly, and that an 8-year-old probably doesn't have the strength to do so. That's the instructor's job.

This is exactly the point

 

[EddieCoyle]

We're done here.

Go someplace else to place blame and pretend to know what other people were thinking and how much they knew about guns.