Text message turns teen party into death scene

[Alpine]

One kid dead, others shot

THE POWER OF texting turned a party in Sacramento into death for a teenager, and bullet laden injuries for others.


The Sacramento Bee reported that what had started as an innocent txt message to pals to celebrate a 16th birthday party turned into a gunfight at the not-so OK corral.

The Sacbee reported here that a message to 40 friends from a mobile phone turned into a battle where a 16-year old high school boy, Phillip Bailey, died, while four other children including one girl were hospitalised with gun wounds. The 40 recipients may have texted their pals, and so on ad infinitum.

Adults were trying to shut the party down when the gun shots started, said the Sacbee, quoting a local cop.

The street, LeFord Way, was crammed with kids by 11.30, and an innocent text message had dragged in heaps of people. Some parents claimed they didn't know what the text messages meant. The Sacbee describes text messages as a must have for young people.


The INQuirer

[KingCobra]

Very interesting article, thank you!

[rikytik]

This is a very disquieting article. I live in Toronto, a city I chose because it so even tempered and pleasant to live in. Yet, duing the past year or so there are now daily shootings with handguns--blowing people away for unknown reasons--perhaps by gangs, but mostly young people, a la pc game scenarios I suppose. Welcome to the new the new version of the world.

[war59312]

Stupid dumb parents if you ask me.

[rikytik]

Touche,War. When I was a kid we'd get big time swats with a wood paddle if we were out of line at school. Today, parents would take such teachers to court. I have a 6 year old granddaughter who just started 1st grade. My daughter tells me that teachers there have the option to deny recess recreation, and keep the kids in class 6 hours, non stop. The result is that the kids who are vital growing humans with a great need to dispense energy are going into terrible frustration. The teachers counter by saying: if the kids go outside and skin their knee or worse we get sued for failing to supervise them. This is subject to law passed last year. Meanwhile the kids get obese, suffer the modern ADDS malady, get sedated and suddenly we wonder why things are all scewed up. Nothing very magical about this.

[war59312]

I agree BTW.