Teen Fabricated Story - about getting shot over sign language.

J

JimR

New member
Since the original was posted here on TFL, here's "the rest of the story".

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Teen Fabricated Story
The Associated Press
Saturday, June 17, 2000; 5:37 p.m. EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas –– A teen-ager who claimed he was shot by gang members who mistook a sign language exchange with his hearing-impaired cousin for provocative gang signals now says his cousin accidentally shot him.

"They fabricated the whole story," Lt. David Burgess said of the June 10 incident in which Henry Lee Handy III was shot in the chest.

Handy, 16, recanted Friday when confronted by officers at John Peter Smith Hospital, telling police instead that his cousin had accidentally shot him. He is reported in fair condition.

Handy's cousin, Ruben Faulkwell, 15, was taken into custody Friday afternoon on a juvenile charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

"I was very scared," Faulkwell said about an hour before he was taken to the juvenile center. "I didn't want to go to jail. I love my family and my cousin."[/quote]
 
Here's the rest of the rest of the story.

http://dallasnews.com/metro/97842_sign_17met.ART.html

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Teens admit lying about shooting

Cousins blamed gang members but were playing with
gun, police say

06/17/2000

By Debra Dennis / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH – Two teens who told police this week that they were
communicating in sign language when unknown gang members shot at them
admitted Friday that they made up the story.

Ruben Faulkwell, 15, was taken into custody Friday and charged as a
juvenile with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for shooting his
16-year-old cousin, Henry Lee Handy III.

Police said the two were playing with a handgun about 9 p.m. last
Saturday when it accidentally fired. Henry, a senior at Dunbar High
School, was shot in the chest and is in fair condition at John Peter Smith
hospital in Fort Worth.

Ruben, who is hearing impaired, initially told police that he and his cousin
were communicating in American Sign Language when a dark-colored car
drove up and a passenger fired a single shot at them.

Ruben, a sophomore at Western Hills High School in Benbrook, said he
believed the assailants were gang members who mistook their sign
language for throwing gang symbols.

The unusual nature of the case generated national media attention.

"They fabricated the story," said Lt. David Burgess, a Fort Worth police
spokesman. "We got some witnesses who said something about seeing one
of the youths with a gun. The ensuing investigation proved the account,
provided by the youths, to be fabricated."

Officers from a police gang unit arrested Ruben on Friday at his southeast
Fort Worth home. After police questioned Henry about the shooting,
Ruben admitted that he made up his initial account to police, said the teens'
grandmother, Lorine Handy.

Ruben said that the story was his idea and that he convinced his cousin to
go along with it.

"I was very scared," he said Friday, about an hour before he was taken to
the Scott D. Moore Juvenile Justice Center. "I was lying. I didn't want to
go to jail. I love my family and my cousin."

Ruben said he and Henry were both handling the loaded gun when it went
off as they walked to the store. Ruben said they had found it in a bedroom
at Henry's home.

Ruben said he threw the gun behind a fence and ran for help. Lt. Burgess
said police found the gun Friday in the 3200 block of Martin Street, near
Henry's home.

Ms. Handy said she was disappointed that her grandsons had lied.

"They had everybody running with that lie," she said. "So when I found out
they made it up, I told them both to tell the truth. Everything is going to all
right. I told Ruben, 'Don't fear.' I'll be with him no matter what."

No charges have been filed against Henry.

"We're looking at him as the victim," Lt. Burgess said.

Police said the boys' story appeared to have holes from the beginning.

"We were cautionary because we couldn't believe that it would be
probable for gang members to see them signing in the dark," he said.
"That's not to say it isn't possible, but not probable.

"We are glad that this was not gang-related. It's still a tragedy, and we're
sorry that this boy was shot."

On Friday, there was one good piece of news.

At the hospital, Ms. Handy said, Henry moved his leg for the first time
since the shooting. Henry, an offensive tackle on the Dunbar football team,
has vowed to join his teammates on the field when fall practice opens.

"Praise God he moved his leg," Ms. Handy said. "We know that he is
going to walk."
[/quote]

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¡Viva la RKBA!
Bulldawg: NRA, GOA, TSRA, Shiner Bock Connoisseur.
Bulldawg's Firearms Page
 
"...playing with the loaded gun..."

Well, that's what the anti's want to hear. Proof that the guns are bad. Too bad they fail to catch the irony that it's THEIR propaganda campaign, and the associated destruction of the gun culture, that's behind this kind of thing.

After all, what kid, having been to the range and hunting for years, would be "playing" with a loaded gun?
 
Doh! I even told some of my co-workers this story.

Dennis e-mail me when you get a chance, I've got some shirts for you.
 
"They were playing with the gun when it 'went off'." Yeah, right. I beleive the more correct term is 'placing your finger on the trigger and pressing'. Just more ammo for the antis to tell us about the evils of guns just going off at random.

Arrrrgghh!

------------------
Strength does not come from physical capacity.
It comes from an indomitable will. -- Mahatma Gandhi
 
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