This is not where America is going — this is where we are. This is what we have become.
A group of teens were playing an age-old very stupid prank of covering someone’s house with toilet paper (TP-ing/yard rolling). Being shot for it was probably the last thing any of them expected. But a 64-year-old Alabama man thought he had the right to shoot into an occupied car of youths. After all, Neeely owned a gun, and he lives in United States.
ABC’s local NewsChannel9 interviewed the local sheriff:
Sheriff Jimmy Harris says the incident happened on Saturday in the Sylvania community. The 16-year-old was shot in the hip while sitting in his car, and rushed to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga.
Harris says 64-year-old Ronnie Lee Neeley faces charges that include two counts of menacing, one count each of discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle, and second degree assault.
Harris adds:
"This is a traumatic incident that could have been tragic had the bullet taken a different path. We are very thankful that the child did not suffer any more injury than he did," Sheriff Harris said.
A different path indeed. Yes, TP-ing someone’s house is not always funny. It’s stupid and it’s a pain to clean. But what the fuck was Neely thinking? Better yet, what the fuck kind of country do we live in where this kind of gun violence — and worse — happens by the hour?