Some days you hear a story so awful, you want to never read the news again. Of course, in my line of work, that is pretty much every day. Today's awful story comes out of Connecticut. A man who thought he was saving his sister from a masked intruder shot and killed the perp only to find out that the "intruder" was his own 15-year-old son.
Awful. A few other words come to mind: Guilt. Horror. Heartbreak. But even more, I wonder what good that personal gun did that father. I am sure all the comments on this will be about guns and how great they are and how people kill people and what was the teen doing in a mask anyhow? These things may all be "true." But the fact is, one grieving dad killed his son. If he hadn't had a personal gun, he wouldn't have killed his son. It seems pretty simple to me.
Obviously it's unclear why 15-year-old Tyler Giuliano was wearing a black ski mask and black clothing. It's also unclear why he lunged at his father with "a shiny weapon." Maybe it was a prank. Maybe he was sleepwalking. Maybe he was sneaking out of his own house (he lived next door). We just have no idea yet.
A man has every right to defend his home, but at what cost? I wonder what would have happened if Jeffrey Giuliano had a baseball bat instead? Maybe Tyler would have had time to speak. Maybe he would have said something before his dad swung. Maybe he would have beaten him, but he would still be alive. One has to wonder.
These kinds of discussions won't bring back this lost 15-year-old boy, but they may save other people. Sure, we could say the lesson is don't skulk around your aunt's bushes wearing a ski mask and impersonating a burglar even if it's unintentional. That's probably a good lesson for anyone. But did he deserve to DIE for that mistake? Hell no. And I am sure his grief-stricken father would agree.
It's an awful story and no one could blame the man for doing what he did -- after all, isn't shooting intruders the whole point of having a personal gun? One might question a country where people can own something that can cause such tragic mistakes.
It's just an awful, painful story. This poor father will never be the same.
Do you think guns should be allowed in homes?
Image via Svadilfari/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Vacuum Your Rug
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
KStew Refuses to Shower
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
Comments 26
The point of owning a gun? Really? Protection....hunting...sport shooting....etc.
Lets turn this around. Let's say that this had been an armed intruder intended on killing this man and his family and the man had no gun. So a family dies all because of their lack of protection. The situation in your post isn't an every day occurrence. The kid shouldn't have been sneaking around in a house he didn't live in, wearing a ski mask carrying something that looked like a weapon. Is it tragic? Yep. But we don't know what the kid's intentions were. It wouldn't be the first time a teenager killed their parent for what ever reason.
Nice try to push your anti-gun agenda.
I'm with billsfan...Responsible firearm actions were not the cause of this. This father did not randomly go outside with a gun to shoot someone...his sister thought she was being burglarized by someone in a MASK carrying a WEAPON of some sort at 1:00 in the morning. Catalyst, much? I'm certain that if someone were to attempt to break into my house and made it inside, I have to assume that they are there to do me harm, so I will act accordingly. I'm not going to conduct a Q&A with the intruder. "Oh, you're only here to steal, not kill me? Okay then, I'll put my weapon away." Yeah, right.