Drama Of The Day...

[Joyce]

Came to work this morning, office was crawling with cops and dectectives.
Trucks windows were shot out in the parking lot.
Security Video cameras were downloaded.
Reports were made, etc, etc.

About 4:20 this afternoon, I heard a commotion at the back door to my office.
Several of our workers were returning from jobs, parking their vehicles.
One by one the windows were being shot out WHILE they were parking.
One worker made it inside and told me that 3 kids were out in the nursery shooting at them.
None of our workers were hit, but the trucks took a beating, and the office building itself.
The rest of the workers (mostly Guatemalan) were out chasing them down through the nursery.
I run out and see the mass vehicle destruction, windows blown out of the trucks, back door window shattered,
Ping marks all over the trucks where they missed the windows.
The one worker with me got a phone call from the workers chasing the kids:
They caught the kids out in the nursery and were bringing them back to the office!
These kids were 10, 11, and 11. Girl was 10, 2 boys were 11.
The cops and the state troopers came, with canine units. A shotgun was found eventually by the dogs in the nursery.
(after I left, had to go to a Town Hall Meeting at 6pm)
I only found 2 high powered pellet guns on the boys.
Downloading pix, will post ASAP.

 

[Jerry]

At least they were dumb kids as opposed to a sicko!  not that it helps much.

[Mikey]

(after I left, had to go to a Town Hall Meeting at 6pm)

Are we going to see you in the news?     

[Holldoll]

How scary! They are lucky nobody got hurt!  I hope the cops scare the hell out of them so they never want to remotely try something as stupid ever again. 

[Joyce]

Here are the pix...link to album...
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v389/SwimmingJewel/Vandalism%20Pix/

Some shots...


I took the guns away right after I took this




Back door, about 20 feet from my office






GOOD DOG!


They just wanted 'a piece' of the action...

[Kittyzee]

Nobody needs this kind of drama!    My youngest daughter is a Juvenile Probation Officer--hopefully they get someone with a plan of positive action.  I can't imagine why they would have a shotgun though....sad thing is their environment sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.

Sorry to hear of the destruction at your workplace Joyce.  

I posted while you were posting...those aren't shotguns, but lethal weapons nonetheless!!  What could they possibly have been thinking?!! 

[Holldoll]

How scary! Those dogs are just chomping at the bit to get out!

[miguynmkoi]

What the heck?!?!  What were those kids thinking?!?!  What are their parents teaching them?!?!  Honestly, they may only be 10 or 11 but there is something behind this kind of violence!!!!

Scary!!

[Jerry]

I have the one on the left. It is a Co 2.
I do well with pie tins.  If I ever meet a pie tin in a dark alley I am set

[Julles]

That had to be positively terrifying for the people in the trucks!!  But I must confess, I greatly like the part about, "The workmen were off chasing them through the woods." 

It's a fact, kids' brains simply aren't developed enough to truely understand the impact of what they're doing.  In fact, brains aren't fully developed until about age 25 or so.  That's why it's mostly the younger people making bad decisions and creating much of the crime and mayhem in the world. 

Those kids were probably only thinking of pulling triggers and blasting glass, and not at all about injuring human beings or costing someone lots of money.

I hope they do something to HELP the kids, not just to PUNISH them.  I mean, they need to learn about cause and effect, expense, damage to property, hurting people, etc.  Sticking them in juvenile hall for six months won't help them become better citizens.

[Jerry]

It is the parents who are derilict.  Can you imagine doing such a thing as a kid?
Where are the values?

[Esther]

I am sitting here shaking my head. At first I was afraid that-----------Joyce, you know!! Glad to hear it was just stupid kids. Well that didn't come out right. Anyway, I just can't believe those kids didn't know any different. They knew they were damaging property, that is what they intended to do. My kids and now that they are grown, their kids learned at a young age (younger than 10), whether it be from their family or at school or from the neighbors, YOU JUST DON"T DO THINGS LIKE THAT. Turfing a yard or TPing somebody's trees is one thing but when they are destroying property I JUST CAN'T see kids not knowing. Trouble is, how does the legal system handle something like this? The insurance company now takes a big hit. The families of the kids probably don't have any money so can't make things right. I just can't imagine having my kids involved in something like that. Sputter, sputter. Mercy, those kids and you guys are so lucky to not have anybody hit and hurt. And the kids are lucky the workers didn't UM, paddle their butts or much worse.

Oh the other thing---where on earth did they get the weapons?? Many years ago I bought a gun cabinet that I could lock and then put the ammo in a different locked place. Then I bought or was given individual locks that I put on each pistol, shotgun, and rifle, and even on the BB gun. Maybe it's over kill but LOL, I'm not going to be blamed for having some idiot easily get at our weapons. If we needed to use them, we'd have to whack the robber over the head with them.

[Indiana Karen]

That is so sad.  It's not the kids fault, its the parents.  Obviously they have not been taught right from wrong.  So many kids are raising themselves these days, because the parents are either unemployed no-good druggies or the parents are so caught up in their own lives, the kids are ignored.
Our boys had airguns just like those when they were probably close to that age, maybe a little older, I honestly can't remember, BUT, they were used to shoot at targets and they fully understood what damage they could cause. 
I hope they get the proper help.

[Esther]

I can see where certainly the parents should have influence on their children to teach them what is inappropriate behavior but to say the kids aren't at fault------------I just don't see it. Maybe I'm too    Wherever kids are, whether they are at home with family or in school, or simply in any social setting, there is teaching about damaging property. They are taught at school, church, clubs, about boundries and respecting the property of others. What grade would 10,11 be?? 4th or 5th grade?? Mercy, if they don't know the difference by that age, what are they going to be in 4-5 years? Hopefully they get locked up before they can hurt somebody. Sounds crude of me but if 10 year olds don't know when they are doing something wrong, we've come to a sad state of affairs. But then, I guess, look at all the adults who don't seem to know or care. So I guess we already are at a sad state of affairs. Odd the phrase I chose to use, "affairs".    But stomping on another's rights has gone on since the beginnning of time. I forget or don't care where my space begins and ends and the other guy gets hurt in the end.  Well he gets hurt.

[Joyce]

I agree Esther. (and I know what you were thinking, so was I  )
If any of you were here and heard how these kids were mouthing off to us, you'd feel even stronger that they knew EXACTLY what they were doing, planned it, and had been escalating the bad behavior for over a week. They started with just getting into the open trucks and any open door in the Morton buildings. They stole money, change, and any gadgets in the trucks like Ipods, Phones, Tools, etc. They came at night, wearing black or dark clothing. They knew where our security cameras were and stayed as far away from them as possible, planned their route around them. (the cameras did catch dark shapes moving here and there, crouched over) The father of the white kid bought him (according to the kid) the 2 BB guns for target practice in the backyard. We still think there is a 4th kid who got away, dumped the shotgun. Shotgun was not loaded, but they could have run out of ammo. It was also very old and rusted, like they had been hiding it outside. There are spent shotguns shells all over the nursery. Who knows where they got it and I doubt the parents knew. Around here, it's very rural, farmland, vineyards, potato fields, farmers have guns to keep away pests. Barns will have shotguns hanging in them for easy access to shoot pests. Old Farmers die, barns start falling apart. Kids break into barns and loot. Yeah, it used to be smashing pumpkins, painting goats, tipping cows, occasionally stealing a tractor and leaving it somewhere silly/funny, etc, etc...but not anymore. And the kids get their ideas from what they watch on TV, and in the movie theater. It's all violence.

By the way, in case it didn't come through clearly...these kids were shooting at our workers inside the trucks as they parked the trucks. They knew they could have shot someone in the head, or worse, in the eye. They were shooting at a moving vehicle, don't tell me they not 'developed' enough to know that if a vehicle is moving, a person is inside driving it.  One of the kids joked that, 'They're only Guats!' (short for Guatemalans) And then 'They're probably illegal anyway'. WTF??? So shoot them? 
Yeah, I should have told the workers to have their way with the kids before the cops came, because several of their personal vehicles were damaged.
I am so surprised they didn't bash them up a bit before they brought them back here after they caught them.

We know who the parents are, and they are NOT losers. They are poor, and both sets of parents have to work full time to make ends meet. The detective (who I knew from kindergarten up) was here this morning to tell us that the parents and the kids will be in some time today to talk about restitution. He said the parents are appalled, embarrassed, humiliated, enraged, AT THEIR OWN KIDS and want to make this right ASAP. He said don't be surprised if the kids have trouble sitting.

Once again, the kids knew what they were doing. Were bragging about it, saying they had started their own gang, hence the hoods, was their trademark.

Think about how many parents HAVE taught their kids right from wrong, but the kids still go bad.
The only thing these parents are guilty of is trusting their kids, and not locking up the guns.

[barb]

I just can't fathom kids having weapons.  Surely there must have been some signs that these kids had violent tendencies??!  How did they even get the guns?   Oh never mind, I just saw Joyce's latest posts about where the guns came from.  There are definitely some issues in the families of those kids, I just can't see "normal" kids doing this.  For instance, the comment about the illegals, I'm betting that's an opinion they heard from their parents. 

[Esther]

Before I locked up our guns, my neighbor came home one day and noticed my then 13 year old (the one with ADD) with a BB gun pointing out our front window up in the trees at some birds. I was at work. That is when I locked everything up tighter than a drum. Figured that if he didn't have the sense to not shoot at birds, he might not have the sense to not shoot at something else and cause damage or harm. He never played with that BB gun again.

[MikeW]

Our very liberal, and forgiving society, will never punish kids like this enough. Maybe a severe punishment might not help the kids, but it would sure make me feel better!

Restitution is the deal here. What money can't be paid now - well those kids probably have healthy kidneys that could be sold. Sorry, I just no longer tolerate, or even want to try and understand, people like this.

Glad no one was hurt Joyce, but yeah, it would have been nice if the workers could have worked the kids over first. Some really hard working guy, livingly seasonally from check to check is now looking at his car with broken windows. I am just sitting here so enraged. Mercy killing comes to mind.

Can you tell I am upset?

Cheers,

Mike

[Esther]

You know, I can almost understand someone stealing because their kids are hungry or damaging something that belongs to somebody else to get vengeance for a hurt-----ALMOST------but just doing damage to do damage does not compute. Well the other  doesn't either but you know what I mean.

[Joyce]

Yes, me too Mike. LOL...yes, They have kidneys, and lots of spare parts. 
I am so sick and tired of people making excuses for these kids. 
I should have videotaped them and posted it here from Youtube.
You'd all be whistling a different tune.
The kids premeditated their malicious and criminal behavior, pure and simple. 
I hope their hineys are blistered.

By the way, my office window was hit too.
I didn't notice it, but my boss did.
Looks like it went through 2 trees, got slowed down a bit and made a ping/star mark.
The glass guy is here right now fixing the back door and the windows.

The work trucks aren't insured for glass.
The bosses will be paying for the workers car damage, which will be reimbursed by the kids parents.

[Esther]

I hope that the parents make those kids work their backsides off somehow so they get the connection. Yes maybe I'm harsh but as they are growing up, maybe they'll remember. I don't mean that the parents should abuse them but discipline is certainly called for here. If they don't know how to use their freedom, then maybe it should be taken away for a while. I sure hope the parents are able to find the "buttons" they need to push to get through to those kids. This should be something the kids never forget and in a way that influences them to be a productive person.

[Mikey]

Those photos are shocking in that the buildings and vehicles were occupied.  Vandalism is bad enough but assaulting people with what could be a deadly weapon is outrageous.  I hope these little bastards are dealt with harshly....but I doubt it will happen.  Hopefully their parents will be forced by the juvenile courts to cough up money for all of the repairs.

[Sunbeam56]

I think the kids ARE to blame. Hard working parents don't teach their kids to be thugs.

[Jerry]

Yep Sunbeam, Kids and parents  just disgusting.

[Julles]

After reading Joyce's latest post, I have to say I have much more distain for those kids.  Premeditated and evil.

Re the statement that so many kids today are "raising themselves," I wanted to add that it's also because in so many families, both parents work, and there simply is no one at home to do the raising.  At night, they're too tired, or too wrapped up in television, to spend time with the kids, or set any example.  And, again in Joyce's last post, that is exactly the case here.  At a town hall meeting last year, I even heard one person state that she believes it's the schools' job to raise our children!

I'm changing my mind about punishment in this case.  Probably what's called for is some sort of (humane) punishment, a face-to-face appology to each person whose property was damaged or who was frightened by the ordeal, and then making the kids earn the money to pay for the glass and etc.  Unfortunately, it will probably be the parents paying for the glass, and even if the kids do come up with some money to repay their parents, it will take years for them to pay it off, and they'll probably be let off the hook long before the debt is paid.

Then, suppose the family has to live on beans and bread until the debt is paid... While sitting down to eat those beans and dry bread, two years later, it's unlikely the kids will eat that meager dinner and realize it's all due to this folly back in August of 2009 .  They will most likely, instead, be imbittered and feel cheated, and claim they had a "bad childhood" and use that as an excuse to grow up and become criminals.

[miguynmkoi]

By the way, in case it didn't come through clearly...these kids were shooting at our workers inside the trucks as they parked the trucks. They knew they could have shot someone in the head, or worse, in the eye. They were shooting at a moving vehicle, don't tell me they not 'developed' enough to know that if a vehicle is moving, a person is inside driving it.  nono One of the kids joked that, 'They're only Guats!' (short for Guatemalans) And then 'They're probably illegal anyway'. WTF??? So shoot them?  no

  OK...I didn't catch the part about the guys still in their trucks!!!!  WTF!!!!    The last part of the quote was ingrained into their head...by WWWWHOM?!?!  I know who taught me right from wrong at an early age and it weren't the milkman!  BTW My parents were hardworking immigrants who owned their own business &&&& worked very long hours, 7 days a week, 12 months a year (only big holidays off).  I was a latch key kid.  My guidance came from rare life speeches instilled in me (and on me!) by my parents.

Absolutely no excuse for the kids or the parents.  Period. Kudos to Mikey, MikeW, Esther ( ),and Barb.  Julles, welcome to the dark side  . 
The kids AND their families MUST pay, monetarily and service.  A very SAD situation.

[Holldoll]

Isn't not shooting at people common sense? I don't EVER remember my mom telling me that I can't shoot guns at people, despite that my friends and I always were playing with fake guns and war games.  I never did it, because I knew that people would get hurt.  Do you have to teach common sense?   

I hope that these kids are able to learn a lesson and this not be the beginning of a long downhill road!

[Joyce]

I agree HollDoll. I don't think kids who have parents that work a lot always turn out bad.
Most of my friends when I grew up had parents who both worked.
My mom didn't have to work because my dad was a research veterinarian and scientist on Plum Island.
But all my friends who were latch key were good kids. The time they did spend with their parents was very high quality.
Now my daughter Jamie has lots of friends in the same situation, and so far, they are all good. 
Both Bill and I work full time too, and Jamie is and has been on high honor roll all year.
Bill gets the summers off so Jamie gets more time with him then.

What influences kids is their parents lifestyle.
If the parents are alcoholics and/or drug addicts, no matter how much time they are home with their kids, doesn't make a difference.
.....The kids will learn that being and alcoholic and drug addict is OK since mom and dad do it.
If the parents are staying home faking injuries on disability...that teaches the kids to use the system and do the same.
If the parents are home smacking each other around, that teaches them more violence.
If the parents are doing all sorts of crap for free rides from the government, that teaches them to do the same.
If the parents are faking injuries to sue people, the kids learn the same.
If the parents constantly do not take responsibility for their own actions, the kids learn the same.

The schools also contribute to teaching the kids not to take responsibility.
Jamie came home from her first day in kindergarten, and when she deliberately did something naughty,
she would claim, 'It was an accident.' I asked, where the heck is that excuse coming from?
She told us that's what they say in school. 

The parents did not show up at work today.
Probably getting lawyered up. 

So far the damage tally is just over $10,000.00. 

[Julles]

Joyce's examples of deficient upbringings are obvious ones.  But more subtle things effect kids, too.  How many times does a father come home from work and plop down in front of the TV with the newspaper, and totally ignore his son's attempts to get his attention?  Or a mom who's so busy dashing here and there, that she never takes time to sit and spend time with her children?  What messages do these kids pick up?  That they are not important, not loved, and they'll do anything to get attention.  And, besides the lack of attention, these kids are lacking rules, discipline, learning, role models, etc.

Families should sit down and eat dinner together.  They should spent time doing home work together, on weekends they can go to the movies or a park as a family - and not just bury themselves in the movie or sports play, but acutally TALK to one another.  In supportive ways, not just criticism.

Kids should be allowed to make decisions (what clothing to wear today), raise pets (responsability), house hold chores, earn money and then save some/spend some, be listened to when they want to tell about their day.  All that stuff helps the kid feel valued, and helps teach skills that will take him into adulthood. 

[Joyce]

The father of the black kids called yesterday and claimed his kids were home until 5pm.
So now the lying and denial begins.   
We have the kids here on videotape at 4:20, waving their guns around before I took them away.
The police reports have them here at the same time.

So we're gonna press charges just because they father is pulling this sh____ err... CRAP!