Shooting creates mis-directed anger and denial
The Plain Dealer reports on the killing of a teen during an attempted robbery.
Supposedly, resident Damon Wells shot and killed a 15-year-old kid named Arthur "Ace Boogie" Buford. Obviously, neither person knew each other, but it would seem Buford attempted to rob the house, and Wells shot him in self-defense.
So far, the story has not placated other residents in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Somehow, they do not feel that it was done in self-defense.
Let's see. Buford was carrying a gun, and he threatened Damon Wells. Of course, unknown to Buford, Wells also had a gun. Fearing for his life, he had to take the only action possible at that time. Who knows if Wells was unarmed, would Buford kill him?
Teenagers who are friends of Buford are in denial. "[He] never did anything wrong," they say. Unfortunately, the kid was on probation for a robbery committed last August. It seems he wanted to revive his extracurricular hobby.
I won't be surprised if the wanna-be rapper's family files a wrongful death lawsuit.
Comments
Posted by: Ben Cottrill
Posted on: April 25, 2007 11:53 AM
The Ikner/Williams case mentioned in this article also had a similar bit of misplaced anger surrounding it. A bunch of Ikner's friends busted up a candlelight vigil for the victim (Williams). (Ray jablonski, Sun Newspapers, 8-26-2004. Google cache because Sun Newspaper's server is throwing an error.) Notable quotes include: "'We recognize these adult men have a lot of idle time'" and "Johnson said his department provided the men with information on jobs available through the city and in the neighborhood. They also listened to what they had to say about why they choose to hang out on the street corners." It is unfortunate that the behavior of these other citizens is buried by the media and that community leaders pander to these "activists." The rest of the neighborhood should be appalled by these thugs' behavior and should absolutely call them out on it.
The audacity to claim that the instigator of incidents like these is somehow a victim churns my stomach. While he didn't do anything wrong, Wells does has to live with having killed (in self defense) a 15 year old kid for the rest of his life. Leave him alone. Trying to portray Wells as some kind of bad guy ignores the fact that Ace Boogie was a thug who lived a risky lifestyle and met the unfortunate end that often comes with it. Armed robbery is not a youthful prank or a suitable career choice.
BAC
Posted by: angie
Posted on: February 6, 2008 11:34 PM
I'm sorry to hear this happened. It sounds as if Wells was truly acting in self defense. If you have a gun in your face, your normal instinction of fight or flight syndrome kicks in, they only way to beat a gun pointing at you, is to point one back. This story is close to my heart I had a friend(like wells) that had a similar situation, and he want to prison for murder, when all he was doing was acting in self defense.
We all need to apply our
Anger Management skills in this situation.