Father mistakenly shoots own son wearing ski mask and armed with knife

[Half Cut Skele]

If I'm not mistaken, shooting to wound puts you in a world of hurt in the court room. It could be argued that if you had time to "shoot to wound," you'd have had enough time to run away. You don't shoot to wound. You shoot to stop the threat. If you have the time to shoot at something small compared to a torso, then you have time to run away. If my life or my loved ones' lives warrant my escalation of force, I am going to shoot for the largest target possible, the torso.
It's a sad story all around. I read about this a few days ago.

So much this.

I can understand not wanting to kill someone if you don't have to BUT...that said, I think in the eyes of the law, shooting to wound comes off like you weren't truly afraid for your life. If you truly think someone means to kill you, why would you not do your best to incapacitate/kill them first? Also, as others have mentioned, good luck shooting a small, specific, body part when dealing with an armed assailant.

[James Y]

Even if you could shoot to wound, you'd most likely be sued by your assailant. It happens. But intentionally shooting to wound is movie fantasy. It will not work under life-or-death stress.

This of course is pure speculation, but it is possible the kid actually intended to rob or kill his own father/family, rather than playing some prank.

Jim

[UffDa]

I can't believe that people are arguing "shoot to wound" If any of these folks had ever actually shot at a small moving object (much less a small moving object that was trying to kill them) they would know how incredibly ridiculous they sound.

I can. It's because they like to argue and re-state what others have already stated over and over.

[Esav Benyamin]

State police said the shooting happened after Jeffrey Giuliano got a call from his sister next door saying that someone might be trying to break into her home in their neighborhood of attractive colonial-style houses. Giuliano grabbed a handgun and went outside to investigate, troopers said.

She had time to call her brother. When did they call the police?

[street soldier]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...tephen-griffin

Another case of father accidentally shooting his son.

[Chris Pierce]

She had time to call her brother. When did they call the police?

I know that the article stated that te incident occurred in a "neighborhood of attractive colonial-styled houses" but maybe this neighborhood was in the hills? I know that around here a lot of folks might call their neighbors/friends/family before they called the cops.
I happen to live less then 1/4 mile from a cop shop, but I know a lot of folks who live 15 or more miles from town. So response time for cops vs friends and family might have a huge difference.

[Esav Benyamin]

A small Connecticut town. Yes, she was right next door. So call the brother AND call the police, and the brother can hold the intruder's attention until the police arrive.

We don't have much in the way of facts. "Journalists" all seem to be on Twitter. The idea of holding a story till they know what's happening eludes them, and confuses us.

[Grease]

Shooting to wound might be out the window, but a shot in the ground 3 feet in front of you is a damn strong deterrent against walking any closer.

Safest rule with gun vs assailant is never let them get close. Held at gunpoint 20 feet away, knife wielding people aren't much of a threat. It's when they close the gap to 5 or less feet that you are forced to shoot somewhere to back them up or knock them down.

[parbajtor]

A small Connecticut town. Yes, she was right next door. So call the brother AND call the police, and the brother can hold the intruder's attention until the police arrive.

We don't have much in the way of facts. "Journalists" all seem to be on Twitter. The idea of holding a story till they know what's happening eludes them, and confuses us.

But at least they get the story out first, before the competition. The truth (or the lie) of it doesn't matter in the slightest. Besides which people buy papers for their political slant so the truth gets twisted to match the editorial viewpoint anyway.