Black teen misses bus, gets shot at after asking for directions in Rochester Hills

[SummerMadness]

Black teen misses bus, gets shot at after asking for directions in Rochester Hills

A 14-year-old missed his bus and it nearly cost him his life.

Things took a dangerous turn when Brennan Walker went looking for help at a Rochester Hills home Thursday morning and was confronted by a man with a gun.

Walker was trying to walk the bus route to Rochester High School after he woke up late and missed his bus. His mom had taken his phone away, so he didn't have that with him to get directions. So he knocked on a stranger’s door for help -- and almost paid for it with his life.

"I got to the house, and I knocked on the lady's door. Then she started yelling at me and she was like, 'Why are you trying to break into my house?' I was trying to explain to her that I was trying to get directions to Rochester High. And she kept yelling at me. Then the guy came downstairs, and he grabbed the gun, I saw it and started to run. And that's when I heard the gunshot," he says.

Thankfully, the man missed. Brennan kept running, hid, then cried.

Stories like this remind me of Renisha McBride and Jonathan Ferrell.

 

[JackRT]

Can anyone here spell paranoia?

 

[NativeNH1]

This is so sad. I don't understand how people can just assume a teenager knocking on the door is there to rob them just because of the color of his skin. When will people learn to treat others as themselves?

 

[SarahsKnight]

Can anyone here spell paranoia?

Just another example of why 90% of the human race is too trigger-happy and irresponsible to be trusted with owning guns.

 

[Hammster]

Just another example of why 90% of the human race is too trigger-happy and irresponsible to be trusted with owning guns.

I look forward to you validating that statistic.

 

[SarahsKnight]

I look forward to you validating that statistic.

I wasn't attempting to state this as statistical fact.

The point was that I see too many instances of people so quick to pick up their damn gun in response to the barest hint of external threat.

I would think this is obvious.

 

[Hammster]

I wasn't attempting to state this as statistical fact.

The point was that I see too many instances of people so quick to pick up their damn gun in response to the barest hint of external threat.

I would think this is obvious.

Too many, huh? How many do you see that don’t do that??

 

[SummerMadness]

Too many, huh? How many do you see that don’t do that??

This is not really an argument, most people do not do wrong. Using this logic, everything wrong should be ignored because most people do not do wrong.

 

[Hammster]

This is not really an argument, most people do not do wrong. Using this logic, everything wrong should be ignored because most people do not do wrong.

No, using this logic shows that stories like this are anecdotal when it comes to trying to prove any kind of point.

 

[Go Braves]

SMH. How does that couple function if they're that paranoid they get a gun out when some kid knocks on the door in broad daylight?

I bet the kid's mom isn't going to take his phone away ever again.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Just another example of why 90% of the human race is too trigger-happy and irresponsible to be trusted with owning guns.

Of course that means 90 million similar incidents take place annually (or is it monthly, weekly, or daily?).

 

[OldWiseGuy]

SMH. How does that couple function if they're that paranoid they get a gun out when some kid knocks on the door in broad daylight?

I bet the kid's mom isn't going to take his phone away ever again.

Knocking on the door in broad daylight is a common tactic used by burglars. The homeowners did nothing wrong. And I'm guessing the guy fired his gun into the air, not at the kid.

 

[SarahsKnight]

Knocking on the door in broad daylight is a common tactic used by burglars. The homeowners did nothing wrong.

... You cannot be serious.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

... You cannot be serious.

About which part?

 

[SarahsKnight]

About which part?

... I don't know why, but I'll play along, long enough to answer the quoted question.

That you said the homeowners did nothing wrong.

 

[Go Braves]

Knocking on the door in broad daylight is a common tactic used by burglars. The homeowners did nothing wrong. And I'm guessing the guy fired his gun into the air, not at the kid.

So had it been a Girl Scout selling cookies instead of a lost kid looking for directions you'd still think this was fine?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

... I don't know why, but I'll play along, long enough to answer the quoted question.

That you said the homeowners did nothing wrong.

Well, he probably shouldn't have fired his gun. Other than that they did nothing wrong or illegal.

 

[SarahsKnight]

So had it been a Girl Scout selling cookies instead of a lost kid looking for directions you'd still think this was fine?

But of course, Go Braves! Don't trust those cute smiles and pleading eyes to help their cause for a second. God knows what dangerous weapons they're hiding behind those boxes of Samoas they're holding out to you, just waiting to whip out and fire on an unsuspecting nice old suburban couple the second they drop their guard and open their wallet?!



EDIT: .... Just remember, @Go Braves ! Even if it's just a little girl wearing a beret with cat ears and toting tasteless cookies around, it's THEIR LIFE OR YOURS! No questions asked! (That's the BS line I always heard from my wildly gun-obsessed former stepmother, who bragged about carrying a deer knife in the cubby on her driver's side door, because she was sure that if she didn't, she would be dragged out of her car and raped in the middle of a stop.

To that I always responded (to myself, not out loud, because I don't want family members mad at my sissy liberal butt when it comes to the subject of guns: "Act like a victim, and you are more likely to be one."

 

[OldWiseGuy]

So had it been a Girl Scout selling cookies instead of a lost kid looking for directions you'd still think this was fine?

Interesting that you mention Girl Scouts, as the person working with burglars who knocks on the door is called the "scout". As his or her face might be seen they are rarely involved in the actual burglary. Their job is to determine if anyone is home, and to 'scope out' the place if they're allowed inside (to make a phone call, use the bathroom, etc.).

 

[OldWiseGuy]

So had it been a Girl Scout selling cookies instead of a lost kid looking for directions you'd still think this was fine?

I'm guessing that Girl Scouts don't skip school to sell cookies.