The media view of this case in periodicals and tv is against the storeowner, whose life was reportedly not threatened and who said he only fired to scare away the alleged miscreants.
He scared them and more.
Jeff
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/2000/Apr/11/city/PASIAN11.htm
April 11, 2000
Merchant jailed for shooting boy
By Linda Loyd
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A 13-year-old boy who once enjoyed playing football and basketball sat in a wheelchair yesterday as a Common Pleas Court judge sentenced the merchant who shot him to 10 to 20 years in prison. Ben Quach, owner of the Daily Food Mart, received the sentence for aggravated assault and a weapons offense in the Sept. 23 shooting of Keenan Amos, 13, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back.
Common Pleas Court Judge Gregory E. Smith said the sentence "will not heal the young man, but I think it sends a message to merchants" and others who attempt to take the law in their own hands. Quach, 36, of Aston, Delaware County, became agitated after watching another boy try to snatch candy from his store. He grabbed his 9mm semiautomatic pistol and fired twice at several youths who were running in a dark alley near 65th Street and Chester Avenue. Amos, who had bought a bag of chips, ran away with the other youths. Quach, who is of Chinese descent, spoke through an interpreter and expressed remorse to Amos' family.
Anne Quach, his sister, said her family was deeply sorry. "I wish we could go back," she said, "but we can't." Amos, who did not speak in court, later said the store owner "got what he deserved - a lot of jail time - because I got a life sentence in a wheelchair."
The teenager, a seventh grader at Pepper Middle School when he was wounded, now has a tutor at home.
Described by his parents as well-behaved and respectful, Amos was a member of his church choir who dreamed of being a football or basketball player.
"I know this has been stressful on Ben Quach's family, but Ben had a choice," the youngster's mother, Brenda Amos, told the judge. "Keenan can't get up and do the things he wants to do. . . . He feels as though his whole life is over."
Defense attorney Earl Kauffman said Quach wanted to scare the boys but did not intend to shoot anyone. He said Quach, who grew up in Vietnam and moved to the United States at 14, "made a mistake. . . . He did something he's going to have to pay for."
He scared them and more.
Jeff
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/2000/Apr/11/city/PASIAN11.htm
April 11, 2000
Merchant jailed for shooting boy
By Linda Loyd
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
A 13-year-old boy who once enjoyed playing football and basketball sat in a wheelchair yesterday as a Common Pleas Court judge sentenced the merchant who shot him to 10 to 20 years in prison. Ben Quach, owner of the Daily Food Mart, received the sentence for aggravated assault and a weapons offense in the Sept. 23 shooting of Keenan Amos, 13, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back.
Common Pleas Court Judge Gregory E. Smith said the sentence "will not heal the young man, but I think it sends a message to merchants" and others who attempt to take the law in their own hands. Quach, 36, of Aston, Delaware County, became agitated after watching another boy try to snatch candy from his store. He grabbed his 9mm semiautomatic pistol and fired twice at several youths who were running in a dark alley near 65th Street and Chester Avenue. Amos, who had bought a bag of chips, ran away with the other youths. Quach, who is of Chinese descent, spoke through an interpreter and expressed remorse to Amos' family.
Anne Quach, his sister, said her family was deeply sorry. "I wish we could go back," she said, "but we can't." Amos, who did not speak in court, later said the store owner "got what he deserved - a lot of jail time - because I got a life sentence in a wheelchair."
The teenager, a seventh grader at Pepper Middle School when he was wounded, now has a tutor at home.
Described by his parents as well-behaved and respectful, Amos was a member of his church choir who dreamed of being a football or basketball player.
"I know this has been stressful on Ben Quach's family, but Ben had a choice," the youngster's mother, Brenda Amos, told the judge. "Keenan can't get up and do the things he wants to do. . . . He feels as though his whole life is over."
Defense attorney Earl Kauffman said Quach wanted to scare the boys but did not intend to shoot anyone. He said Quach, who grew up in Vietnam and moved to the United States at 14, "made a mistake. . . . He did something he's going to have to pay for."