Iraq War Veteran Toilet-Papering House Shot By Irate Resident

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4036444/detail.html

LOS ANGELES -- A soldier home after a year in Iraq was shot in the head and critically injured and another man was wounded by a resident who became enraged because they were part of a group toilet-papering homes in his neighborhood, investigators said.

Aubre Weldon, 34, was arrested and booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon after Thursday's 12:30 a.m. shooting, said Sgt. Earl Quinata of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff's deputies found Daniel Alvarado, 25, with a wound to the head and Robert Limon, 22, with a grazing wound, the sergeant said. Both men, residents of Temecula, were taken to Inland Valley Hospital and Alvarado was later transferred in critical condition to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Alvarado is in the U.S. Army and recently returned after a year in Iraq, according to television reports. He was due to go back in March, according to the reports. Quinata said he couldn't confirm whether Alvarado was in the Army.

[nosmokes]

1. i don't wanna sound crass,

and i absolutely deplore the shooting of a human being for a harmless prank, but wth are 20-something yo folks doing out toilet papering houses in the first damn place? i think i was 12 and still a virgin when i launched my last roll of scot-tissue into some young lady's trees. sheesh.

[bpilgrim]

2. they're KIDS

with TONS of STRESS and were probably DRUNK!

wait till they're REALLY terrorizing the neighbors... like the ones comming back from fallujah :scared:

peace

[Sweet Pea]

3. Kids? 25 and 22?????

n/t

[bpilgrim]

4. 22 is pretty young, yes

especially if you were born and raised in america... and STRESSED blowing off steam, sheesh.

peace

[grahamhgreen]

5. perhaps reverting to childhood, a happier time in their lives.

[bpilgrim]

7. who could blame them

welcome to DU :toast:

peace

[AngryOldDem]

36. Yes...kids

These young adults probably skipped a lot of steps on their way from adolesence to adulthood by serving in the war. Maturity does not always match chronological age, and we have no way of knowing their psychological state at the time. While what they did was perhaps "juvenile," and probably not a good use of time, it certainly did not justify their deaths.

I am reminded here of the adopted son of one of my husband's relatives. He has served a tour in Iraq, mostly around Baghdad, I think, and is back home but due to return to Iraq in March. This kid is 22, fighting depression, had a marriage bust up on him while he was overseas, cannot stand to be in crowds, and is not proud of what he's done so far over there. He has changed.

He is a wreck, and I fear for his life, no matter what happens. He went into the military directly out of high school because he felt it was his duty after 9/11. He will leave the military -- if he's lucky -- most likely a broken man. Lucky for him he has a strong family, but I don't know if even that will be enough for some of these kids to cope.

(There's more to this story that pisses me off, but it's not germane to this discussion.)

So, I really can't get too preturbed over a couple of people chucking TP at someone's house -- because it could have been (and still could be) something MUCH worse, if we do not begin to attend to these soldiers' emotional and psychological well-being NOW.

[NVMojo]

10. shit, I teepeed this guys house when I was 30 ...I had a major crush

him so a bunch of us gals got together and did it. It was the most fun!!!

However, this story is an enormous tragedy ...why the feck would some take a gun to someone's head like that??? I can see it if someone raped a person's child or some tragic thing like that, where rage just overcomes someone but dam toilet paper??? Keerist ....

[NorthernSpy]

6. if it had been only the soldier TPing people's yards...

... I'd suspect that he had sustained a brain injury at some point. Even a seemingly mild head trauma can cause a person to behave in a bizarre, disinhibited, or otherwise inappropriate manner.

Of course, he was one of a group of six... Maybe they were all suffering from a chemically induced temporary brain injury -- also known as "being drunk".

:shrug:

[msgadget]

8. The person who hunted them down and shot them

seems as disturbed as the vandals. A call to the police would've been sufficient.

[bpilgrim]

9. "seems as disturbed as the vandals"

and some americans seem to have lost ALL sense of proportion...

peace

[Divine Discontent]

11. yeah...

that sentence had to be misthought, we all do it. there is no comparison to the two things... it was a childish act, and attempted murder

[nascarblue]

12. Welcome to the world of terror and new gun laws

[msgadget]

34. It was mistyped,

thanks.

It's disturbing that someone that age would be out tp'ing peoples' houses. Either he was a dimwit before the war or he's suffering from PTSS and this sort of assault on personal property provided him some sort of release.

OTOH, as a homeowner I'd be rightly pissed to wake up and find toilet paper all over the place but the most I'd do is pick up the phone to report it before hauling out the ladder and getting to work.

Way too much testosterone in that town.

[hippywife]

17. Ain't that the truth!

No wonder the * Admnistration has been able to perpetrate an illegal war with such support! What a mindset some folks have!

Also that headline needs some work! On first read, I thought the house had been shot!

[hollowdweller]

18. and some americans seem to have lost ALL sense of proportion" (top down?)

Preemption? Shock and Awe?

[livinginphotographs]

21. Exactly.

I can't excuse TP-ing someone's house, but jesus christ, shooting at them is a bit excessive.

Someone here in Richmond last winter shot a 12-year-old who threw a snowball at his car.

Call the police, chase them off, confront them, whatever, but why would a sane person decide that the appropriate response was to shoot them???!!!

[jdj]

26. see now, if he'd done this in Iraq he'd be a "hero"

[GarySeven]

13. Remember, he had risked his life defending ...

... the Second Amendment

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. You don't shoot someone for TPing a house!

I don't care how old the person was doing the TPing. What is wrong with people anymore? :cry:

[Bark Bark Bark]

15. Ah'll Kill Yuh Fer Lookin' At Me Th'Wrong Way

...Ah'm th'NRA.

*BANG*

AW HELL CALL AN AMBULANCE!! AH DONE BLOWED MY KNEECAP OFF!!

[NorthernSpy]

16. I guess some people wanna take "self-defense" to a whole new level...

Too many people seem to walk around with this bristly, "make my day" attitude, as though they were just waiting for the chance to destroy some hapless "perpetrator" for even the smallest trespass.

[durablend]

19. Gots'ta look out for terra-ists

They're EVERYWHERE waiting to strike at any moment!

[salin]

20. If... I were alone in a house and 6 people were outside

carousing and I was fearful.... I could see taking action... as in calling the police (that is what we pay taxes for)...

But if I didn't, and the group left, and all that was in their wake was toilet paper? I might be angry - but hunting them down (and since he took a gun with him in his hunt the whole... finding them then an argument ensued descriptions sounds like a bit of downplaying) and shooting at the HEAD... Monsterous reaction. Simply monsterous.

[Ms_Mary]

24. Exactly. TP in your trees is a nuisance, not grounds for murder. nt

[Lone_Star_Dem]

28. That's right you call the police if you think you are threatened.

If they try and break into your house that's a different story. I understand being afraid. I understand reacting from fear. That was not even remotely what happened here. This man acted on hate and violent impulses.

TPing is a feaking misdemeanor! There is no validation for chasing people down and playing Rambo over a little TP in the trees. The damage this shooter has done cannot be undone. Unlike the TP which could be removed and cleaned up.

[donsu]

29. there is more to the story

they had some kind of argument after the homeowner searched the neighborhood and found them.


I've never known what was funny about tp ing someone's house. just seems like mean vandalism to me.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

30. I read the whole story.

I still cannot validate in my mind chasing people down with a loaded gun for TPing your house.

TPing is asinine vandalism. It's wrong but it's 100% repairable. You don't plan on shooting someone for it.

To make this more clear, I would not shoot someone for slashing my tires, breaking my windows or other such infractions, either. I would be mad as hell and I would file charges. I would not go Rambo on them, chase them down confront them and try to kill them.

[jukes]

22. another gun-totin' freeper

supporting the troops...

[sallyseven]

23. I'll bet the shooter

is a republican. A democrat would have called the police.

[comradebillyboy]

25. the death penalty was excessive, but

i have zero sympathy for a gang of drunken vandals. since he was no longer defending his home the shooter was in the wrong, but in my opinion, we have the right to defend our homes. if i caught a group of thugs vandalizing my home, i would call the police first(who might resopnd in the next week or so) and then get my gun and get rid of the vandals.

[THUNDER HANDS]

27. you'd pull a gun on someone TPing your house?

Loaded or unloaded?

[Karenina]

32. from "The Mikado"

My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time—
To let the punishment fit the crime,
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment,
Of innocent merriment!

(Gilbert & Sullivan)

[mark11727]

33. What about a paint-ball gun...?

...just strong enough to pink-splat their drunk arses.

[annarbor]

31. You would pull a gun on someone TP'ing the OUTSIDE...

of your home?????
Unless the toilet paper caused permenent damage to your home (Malicious Destruction of Property), you would have nothing more than a bunch of kids (albeit big kids) being drunk and disorderly. If you pull your gun out to threaten them, YOU could be charged with Felonious Assault. Being armed with a roll of toilet paper does not raise the threat to the level where you're allowed to pull a gun!
Thank God they weren't armed with eggs!

Ann Arbor

[dansolo]

35. And people complain about the Iraqis fighting back

We have a homeowner who believes that they are perfectly within their rights to shoot someone who was merely throwing toilet paper at their home. It is ironic that these were soldiers involved in this incident. Just think for a moment about the parallels. If these soldiers were in Fallujah, attacking some innocent Iraqi's home, they'd probably be cheered along by this homeowner.