Kid Shot My House With Pellet Gun

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • moojersey

    Sic Semper Tyrannis
    Sep 7, 2013
    3,006
    Cecil County
    Just wanted some opinions on what you much more experienced folks would have done. Short version is that apparently this little bugger six year old behind me got a hold of a pellet gun and shot at my house. Thankfully my window was open so the glass was not broken. Damaged the window screen and pellet lodged into my drywall. My brother was standing about 6 inches from where the pellet impacted, which leads me to believe this little bugger was aiming at him.

    Now they do shoot it regularly behind me, as I can hear it most nice days. I obviously have no problem with them doing that. My gripe is that an unsupervised 6 year old shot my house, could have seriously injured my brother, and damaged my property. Cecil County Sheriffs insisted that I should not try to press any charges as there was really nothing to the situation, and little would become of it. Just an honest accident. Parents threw me a $20 for spackle and a screen repair kit. Thoughts?
     

    StantonCree

    Watch your beer
    Jan 23, 2011
    23,932
    Lob a 22 slug in there house and give them the twenty back it seems to be the only logical MDS course of action

    Or leave it alone

    They acknowledged the problem by giving you the money.....seems they will address it with their kids since they deemed it their fault.
     

    Name Taken

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 23, 2010
    11,891
    Central
    Criminally there isn't a lot that can be done. The six year old can't be charged and his parents, while piss poor, likely doesn't rise to criminal parenting either.

    While kids will be kids I would hope that his parents took this situation seriously and at least took the air rifle away for a bit and realize they need to monitor their kids actions.

    If you fell the parents took it seriously and dealt with it move on. The civil court system would be a route for property corrections but it sounds like they already did that with 20 bucks.
     

    Half-cocked

    Senior Meatbag
    Mar 14, 2006
    23,937
    Well, at least they made good for the damage. Some "parents" these days wouldn't even give a crap.

    I would monitor them very carefully, and make sure the kid doesn't have unsupervised access to it again. If he does, get video, and take it up a notch. Sometimes a threat to call the police will motivate them.

    If the kid still shoots your house and the police won't do anything, I'd say you have a problem with the police, more than just a problem with the neighbors.
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    damn, my dad would have beat me and then let you beat me if I had done something that stupid and then he would have made me pay restitution with my labor until he felt things were right. I guess kids get to do what ever they want nowadays.

    I don't see where calling the cops would accomplish much though, just my 2 cents.
     

    moojersey

    Sic Semper Tyrannis
    Sep 7, 2013
    3,006
    Cecil County
    I did decide to leave it alone for now. Heard them out back yesterday, I need to get my binoculars out to see if he's being watched. I admit I am a bit of a hot head sometimes, but it really BURNS MY ASS because my brother was standing right there. Could have taken his eye out or worse. Some of those pellet guns will penetrate a person. Not too concerned with the very minor damage, but honestly don't want it to happen again.
     

    LCPIWB

    Needs an avatar
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 17, 2011
    2,001
    Underneath the blimp, Md.
    Had similar instance with next door neighbor kids. Much older though, they were in middle school at the time. Took it up with the father, who at first swears his angels would not do such a thing until I showed him the BB's embedded in the broken vinyl siding. He look like he was going to beat their asses good, and was willing to pay for the damage, so there was no need to get police involved. If he keep being defensive or denying responsibility then maybe I would have gotten the police involved, but I gave him the opportunity to be a parent first. Did not have too much trouble after that.
     

    sxs

    Senior Member
    MDS Supporter
    Nov 20, 2009
    3,377
    Anne Arundel County, MD
    Regardless of specific laws on BB guns, it is illegal to destroy someone else's property. Furthermore, there local and county regulations on exactly what is allowed. Some don't even allow discharge of Bows or crossbows. My kids have been shooting since 6 years old. But I NEVER ever let them shoot unsupervised. That goes for pellet rifles, BB guns and the 22 they used to shoot. My son hunted some with me for a few years. I wouldn't leave him for even a couple minutes while hunting until he had 3 or 4 years under his belt and then it would be just for a few minutes.
     

    cogcon

    COGCON
    MDS Supporter
    1. Dad apologizes and gives you $20 for any damages

    2. Wife yells at husband for leaving that "damned toy" laying around

    3. Little Tommy gets a lesson in firearm safety reinforced with some additional counseling behind the woodshed

    4. Forgive, but not forget in case it happens again.
     

    Mooseman

    R.I.P.- Hooligan #4
    Jan 3, 2012
    18,048
    Western Maryland
    When I was a kid, I was allowed to play with my BB gun unsupervised. I never would have thought about shooting at a person or their house. I guess kids have changed.
     

    PapiBarcelona

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 1, 2011
    7,343
    Doesn't really matter what local and county regulations are now after the fact, plus we are talking about Cecil Tucky. the "investigation" took place and the OP got advice from a Deputy (I guess), received cash from the offenders parent later, and life will go on.

    Doesn't sound like anything I'd get worked up over with.

    Since the OP mentioned Sheriffs Office, he would likely not live in an incorporated city limits. A lot of people shoot in their backyards, just take a weekend drive up in them parts with your winders down.
     

    omegared24

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 23, 2011
    4,747
    Ijamsville, MD
    1. Dad apologizes and gives you $20 for any damages

    2. Wife yells at husband for leaving that "damned toy" laying around

    3. Little Tommy gets a lesson in firearm safety reinforced with some additional counseling behind the woodshed

    4. Forgive, but not forget in case it happens again.

    I'm assuming junior got the business. If my parents knew half the crap I did they would have killed me.
     

    pbharvey

    Habitual Testifier
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    30,156
    When I was a kid, I was allowed to play with my BB gun unsupervised. I never would have thought about shooting at a person or their house. I guess kids have changed.

    Me too but not at six years old.
    That's really young to be left alone with a pellet gun...obviously.
     

    Mooseman

    R.I.P.- Hooligan #4
    Jan 3, 2012
    18,048
    Western Maryland
    Me too but not at six years old.
    That's really young to be left alone with a pellet gun...obviously.

    I was actually five years old when I got my first BB gun. I loved that gun. I still have it though it no longer works. I was told that if I shot anything with it that I shouldn't, I would never see it again. I knew my father was serious.
     

    BigSteve57

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 14, 2011
    3,245
    We had something like this happen to us when I was growing up.

    I had noticed pellet holes in a couple of the windows on our house so I showed it to my parents. My dad was pretty ticked off and wondered if I knew who might have done it. I was a teenager and knew the kids around the neighborhood so I had a guess of who it might be.

    Then I recalled sitting in my room doing homework at night a few days earlier and hearing tap-tap...tap on the walls. Thinking it was some animal I ignored it. So we looked at the aluminum siding...sure enough we found some dents in addition to the broken windows.

    So, one night I'm again sitting in my room and I hear the same tap, tap tap. I tell my dad what I heard and I run outside to sneak around the yard. I see 3 kids at the edge of our property shooting pellet guns at each other and at other houses. I instantly recognized one of them as 2 brothers from one family and one brother from a 2nd family. These kids had been in all kinds of trouble with the police for things like theft, starting fires etc...

    As soon as I see one of the 3 kids point the air gun at our house and shoot I walk over and gently escort him to our yard whereupon my dad called the police.

    The police come and look at our house and by now there were about 1/2 dozen more broken windows. The police talk to the kid who is sitting with the gun and a box of pellets. The kid admits doing the shooting and fingers his friends too.

    The police wanted to know if we wanted to press charges and dad says "ahhh yep".

    So the cops take the kid and drive off.

    Then it gets REALLY interesting...

    It turns out that the parents were off in Europe for a few weeks and left the kid in the care of his older brother. They didn't have any legal guardian for the kid so the police had to hold the kid for 3 weeks until the parents got home.

    When they got home they found they were in very deep doo doo for leaving their kid unsupervised.

    My parents got estimates for the damage to our house and resolved it with the 2 other families.
     

    trickg

    Guns 'n Drums
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 22, 2008
    14,593
    Glen Burnie
    My guess is that if the folks are decent parents at all, this is going to be handled on their end. I agree that it was potentially a bad situation, but I tend to think that cogcon got it right:

    1. Dad apologizes and gives you $20 for any damages

    2. Wife yells at husband for leaving that "damned toy" laying around

    3. Little Tommy gets a lesson in firearm safety reinforced with some additional counseling behind the woodshed

    4. Forgive, but not forget in case it happens again.
    I'd let it go...for now. Your measured response probably got you some respect from the neighbor, and you may wind up with a friend rather than an enemy by handling it this way this time.
     

    Sticky

    Beware of Dog
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 16, 2013
    4,501
    AA Co
    You did the right thing... tell the parent and hope that they instill the fear in the kid, keep an eye on em and just be a little vigilant.

    As a youth, I learned some lessons the hard way.. got shot by a bb gun in the face... learned to respect the 'treat every gun as if it is always loaded' rule after that, though it was a freak incident.

    The other lesson I learned, was of ricochet potential from a bb gun.. We were out in the yard shooting the bb gun (safely) and at the end of the afternoon, there was a round left in the chamber, so... being the vigilant one that I was, I decided I'd best empty it before heading inside... an old Crosman 760 pumper with a handful of pumps in it. Pointed it into the grass in the yard at my feet and discharged it... then heard the dreaded 'tink' of a bb hitting glass.... looked up and I was looking at the neighbor's front bay window... uh oh... and about that time, a very irate neighbor exited the front door, coming quickly in our direction. There was no avoiding it, stood there and faced the wrath and thanked GOD that the bb had lost enough energy after bouncing off a rock in the yard and hitting the window, that it only caused a bullseye and a small piece of glass to fall inside, where the whole family was sitting, having a cocktail before dinner.

    A lesson I never forgot.. LOL

    No cops were needed and I paid to have the glass pane replaced, after profusely apologizing to the neighbor and then proceeding to get my arse chewed hard by Dad, our firearms safety instructor at the time.. ;)
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,919
    Messages
    7,258,899
    Members
    33,349
    Latest member
    christian04

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom