Son shoots his dad during beer heist
Son pleads guilty to firearm, robbery charges
By DAVID SCHMEICHEL, COURTS REPORTER
How's this for father-and-son bonding?
A 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty yesterday to a curbside "beer-jacking" during which he accidentally shot his alleged accomplice -- his own dad -- in the chest.
The teen, who can't be named, waited until his trial was underway yesterday morning before having an apparent change of heart and entering guilty pleas to charges of careless use of a firearm and robbery with a firearm.
The charges were laid after the youth and his father were arrested for allegedly trying to rob a young man of his beer in the area of Isabel Street and Bannatyne Avenue about 2:30 a.m. on March 13, 2004.
During the robbery, the youth is said to have pointed a sawed-off shotgun in the direction of his intended victim but instead wound up hitting his father in the upper chest and shoulder area.
HOSPITALIZED FOR AT LEAST A MONTH
His father suffered serious injuries, including a broken clavicle and punctured lungs, and had to stay in hospital for at least a month.
Prior to the teen's guilty plea, court heard from several witnesses who caught the aftermath of the shooting, including neighbourhood resident Rebecca Niedbalka, who said she heard sounds of "another usual fight" outside her window.
After making sure the three people fighting weren't doing so on her property, Niedbalka went to bed. But she was woken moments later by the sound of a gun, she said.
She told court she saw a young man throwing a gun into her neighbour's yard before returning to the scene of the fight, where an older man lay prone on the street.
When asked how she knew the object being carried was a gun, Niedbalka had a quick reply.
"I watch Law & Order," she said.
Witness Harry Skene was driving down Bannatyne when he saw a man lying on his back with two other men standing over him.
He said the younger man appeared to be related to the man lying on the ground, and seemed "pretty distraught" by what had happened.
"He (the man on the ground) had been moved into the recovery position and there was a considerable amount of blood," Skene testified.
"The blood was coming from a wound on his left shoulder or chest area."
The teen remains in custody and won't be sentenced until a report on his case can be drafted.
His father is also still before the courts.
Winnipeg Sun
Bloody Idiots
Some people are just right fucked up.
