Girl accidentally shot, killed by step-father in CO springs

[Mtn.man]

http://www.9news.com/news/article/370126/339/Girl-accidentally-shot-killed-by-step-father?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

[ChunkyMonkey]

RIP.. always know what you are pointing that gun at and whats beyond it.

[wctriumph]

Prayers for the family on the way up.

[blacklabel]

Sending up prayers for the father and family. What a terrible mistake to make.

[sniper7]

Wow, very sad. Rip

[Skip]

So sad.

[Jesus-With-A-.45]

So sad, that man will never be the same........I don't know if I could go on living if that happened.

Worst nightmare...........ever hurting someone especially someone you love :(

[Kraven251]

My thoughts and prayers are with the family. It is a lesson learned hard for one family that we all should take to heart. Identify your targets, and announce your intent, especially when you are about to employ deadly force. You do not want to be this poor bastard.

[Gman]

What a bad situation. Prayers go out to the family.

[osok-308]

Awful situation all around. Hopefully others can learn from this horrible mistake. Prayers with this family.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Damn, I feel bad for the girl and the step-father but what exactly is a 14-year-old (girl or boy) doing, coming through the window at 3 AM?

[killarney]

How people don't put weapon lights on their home defense gun/guns is beyond me.
target ID is crucial. So sad and so avoidable.

[BPTactical]

Damn, I feel bad for the girl and the step-father but what exactly is a 14-year-old (girl or boy) doing, coming through the window at 3 AM?

14 yo who snuck out more than likely.
Fail all the way around.

[T-Giv]

What parent wakes up with a crash/breakage through the window (or whatever sounds alerted him) at 0300 and expects it to be their kid? The girl was obviously doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing so was probably moving slowly and trying to be quiet. Dad reacted as he should have (minus a solid target ID) just unfortunate that it was his daughter. Who knows maybe the daughter was dressed up in warm clothing and wearing a mask or something? Maybe she had been out doing some neighborhood mischief so she was all dressed up in black or something? Had this been a burglar and not his daughter everyone would be cheering him on for reacting the same way. Without knowing details I would think that a weapon mounted light could have avoided this but I don't know enough about it to speculate. Either way shitty is what it all boils down too.

[newracer]

Anyone that has a teenaged child in the home should expect to catch them sneaking into the house in the middle of the night at some point.

[BREATHER]

Stepchild=??? I know lots of stepparents and stepchildren that hate each other..... Just sayin'

[10mm-man]

Stepchild=??? I know lots of stepparents and stepchildren that hate each other..... Just sayin'


Yep!
Just what i was thinking too; we shall see what transpires...

[vossman]

Dang, I hope that is not the case.

[kidicarus13]

Anyone that has a teenaged child in the home should expect to catch them sneaking into the house in the middle of the night at some point.

Pretty accurate statement.

[ChadAmberg]

New update:


A man who told police he shot and killed his 14-year-old stepdaughter after mistaking her for a burglar is a 29-year-old Fort Carson officer with multiple deployments behind him and a Bronze Star for service.
Read more at http://gazette.com/stepdad-who-shot-teen-girl-is-decorated-fort-carson-officer/article/1511573#i7keSihUmZ1sYPf4.99

Puts a slight spin on some of the speculation that the stepfather was untrained and shouldn't have had a gun that some folks out in the wilds of the internet have been saying.

[merl]

So to learn from others mistakes, a flashlight is also needed on the nightstand.

[Inconel710]

Now they'll put a PTSD spin on it.

[TFOGGER]

Now they'll put a PTSD spin on it.

Liberal douchebag: "See, even highly trained military personnel can't be allowed to own guns safely..."

This is a huge tragedy for all involved. The family has my thoughts and prayers.

One of the reasons I have a 4-d maglite next to the bed; not only does it provide a bunch of light to identify(and maybe disorient)an intruder, but it makes a pretty decent close combat weapon if I can't employ my handgun due to either the assailant charging me, or field of fire issues.

[DireWolf]

I tend to like the weapon-mounted light approach, and really like my surefire X300 ultra. Aside from the obvious search/identification/blind-the-shit-out-of-anyone benefits, I like only having to remember/grab one item if I need to get up at night and go check out anything suspicious......

[Bailey Guns]

How people don't put weapon lights on their home defense gun/guns is beyond me.
target ID is crucial. So sad and so avoidable.

Because not everyone is you. To say you don't understand why "everyone" doesn't have a WML on their home defense weapon is pretty narrow-minded. I can think of a few reasons off the top of my head:

not everyone has a weapon that supports a light
not everyone has a budget that supports a weapon that supports a WML
not everyone has a budget that supports a WML
not everyone is in a situation where a WML is needed.
some people argue having a separate light source is better for various reasons (issues of target indicators, Rule 3 violations, etc...)
a WML can be a detriment to the defender if it isn't used properly...few people really have the proper training to effectively use a light in a defensive situation, much less a WML

I don't have a gun with a WML. I've used them before and I'll likely use them again. I'm not against them but there are other options. I don't need a WML in my home by design (not the design of the home, but the way way other things are set up and/or arranged). I always have a flashlight handy but not necessarily by my bed.

And do we know this Army officer didn't have a light or WML? I don't recall reading anywhere whether or not it stated he had a light. Besides...other things can happen. Equipment can fail, batteries can fail, people can fail (maybe he just forgot to attach the light that night)...maybe he verbally challenged the "intruder" and didn't get a response. If his daughter had responded to a verbal challenge that would've been just as good as having a light. And a light does not make target ID 100% positive and all mistakes avoidable. I can tell you that from personal experience.

This is just a bad deal all the way around for a variety of reasons.

[sellersm]

^Well said.

[Gman]

Indeed. I don't like the idea of the muzzle covering everything I might be illuminating.

[Akyla]

Stepchild=??? I know lots of stepparents and stepchildren that hate each other..... Just sayin'

This is really jumping to conclusions on what is already a very unfortunate and heartbreaking situation. I have a 14-yr old "stepson," but he's my son nonetheless. Sure, we have our issues, but what parent and child relationship doesn't?

I'd appreciate it if people commenting in this thread would be a bit more sensitive about a situation that we know so little about.

[cstone]

Knowing your target is so important.

I have no idea based on just the information provided by the media whether this was a good shoot or not. Obviously it was a tragedy.

As for weapon lights, I was trained in the weak hand light hold supporting the strong hand weapon. Whatever works for you, make sure you train with it.

[sroz]

This is really jumping to conclusions on what is already a very unfortunate and heartbreaking situation. I have a 14-yr old "stepson," but he's my son nonetheless. Sure, we have our issues, but what parent and child relationship doesn't?

I'd appreciate it if people commenting in this thread would be a bit more sensitive about a situation that we know so little about.

Well said.

[trlcavscout]

Because not everyone is you. To say you don't understand why "everyone" doesn't have a WML on their home defense weapon is pretty narrow-minded. I can think of a few reasons off the top of my head:

not everyone has a weapon that supports a light
not everyone has a budget that supports a weapon that supports a WML
not everyone has a budget that supports a WML
not everyone is in a situation where a WML is needed.
some people argue having a separate light source is better for various reasons (issues of target indicators, Rule 3 violations, etc...)
a WML can be a detriment to the defender if it isn't used properly...few people really have the proper training to effectively use a light in a defensive situation, much less a WML

I don't have a gun with a WML. I've used them before and I'll likely use them again. I'm not against them but there are other options. I don't need a WML in my home by design (not the design of the home, but the way way other things are set up and/or arranged). I always have a flashlight handy but not necessarily by my bed.

And do we know this Army officer didn't have a light or WML? I don't recall reading anywhere whether or not it stated he had a light. Besides...other things can happen. Equipment can fail, batteries can fail, people can fail (maybe he just forgot to attach the light that night)...maybe he verbally challenged the "intruder" and didn't get a response. If his daughter had responded to a verbal challenge that would've been just as good as having a light. And a light does not make target ID 100% positive and all mistakes avoidable. I can tell you that from personal experience.

This is just a bad deal all the way around for a variety of reasons.


I wont use them because i dont want the BG to know where i am, i prefer other methods. Flipping the light on lets every ass hole with a gun know where you are so they can throw lead at you. Ask me how i know.

[Sharpienads]

Update to this story:

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/No-Charges-Against-Step-263744101.html


No Charges Against Stepdad Who Killed Stepdaughter

Updated: Thu 5:14 AM, Jun 19, 2014


There will be no charges against a stepfather who shot and killed his stepdaughter.
The decision came from a grand jury.
According to police, on the morning of Dec. 23, 2013, Daniel Meade woke up and heard what he though was someone breaking into his home. He grabbed a gun and shot the presumed intruder, who was climbing into the house through a window. It was his 14-year-old stepdaughter Kiana O'Neil.
O'Neil died after being taken to a hospital.
Police had been called to the scene on reports of a "burglary in progress," and say they found O'Neil when they got there.
Meade was never arrested.

http://media.graytvinc.com/images/kiana+oneil1.jpg

[sniper7]

I'm sure he has enough guilt prison is no place for him

[Colorado_Outback]

I'm sure he has enough guilt prison is no place for him

My thoughts as well. That would be a tough burden to bare.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

I'm sure he has enough guilt prison is no place for him

Exactly my thoughts.

[Hound]

Sad

[rbeau30]

Wow this would suck on so many levels. Hindsight is 20/20, and people fear for their lives and family at different thresholds. I know I am greatful for the reminder to use an escalation of force model.

[BPTactical]

Everybody makes decisions in life, sometimes they end badly.
She made a decision to sneak back into her house through a window.
He made a decision to drop the hammer without positively identifying the intruder.
Sad.
It's actually a blessing in disguise she died.
I could not imagine his feelings if she was paralyzed or another such debilitating condition and having to care for her knowing that you were the one who caused her to be in that condition.

[DavieD55]

Damn... That is terrible! You'd think there would be some verble comms at the least before droping the hammer on a perceived burglar.

[Bailey Guns]

Damn... That is terrible! You'd think there would be some verble comms at the least before droping the hammer on a perceived burglar.

Maybe, maybe not. There is a downside to verbal challenges...it lets other bad guys know where you are for one. Most people are trained to limit target identifiers when possible...noise, light, movement, etc. We don't really know what was going through his mind. When you challenge a bad guy, you're also alerting other bad guys to your location.

Speculation does no good.

[T-Giv]

Terrible incident but if I'm in the stepfather's shoes no way I'm taking a chance to find out who it is coming through the window. Sad as it is the stepdaughter should have not been stupid teenager bullshit.

[dan512]

Terrible incident but if I'm in the stepfather's shoes no way I'm taking a chance to find out who it is coming through the window. Sad as it is the stepdaughter should have not been stupid teenager bullshit.

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this comment. What is the downside to positive target ID?

[T-Giv]

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this comment. What is the downside to positive target ID?

Action is always faster than reaction. Without knowing all of the details it's tough to truly weigh in but perhaps the stepfather was giving good verbal commands and the stepdaughter was in a dark hoodie (because she had obviously snuck out of the house) so he didn't recognize her? Maybe stepdaughter did not respond to the commands and continued climbing into the window? How long you would continue to let an unknown intruder advance into your home before you took action? The stepfather was clearly in fear for his family's safety and even reported to CSPD that there was a burglary in progress. There is really no way to know since neither of us were there. I agree that one should "always be certain of the target" but for my safety there is certain things that I must assume to stay safe. For instance, if a cop is holding someone at gun point and that person reaches into the small of their back and quickly pulls their hand in a drawing motion toward the officer does he have to wait to make sure they have a weapon? Hell no. He can rightly assume that the person's intentions are to harm him and react accordingly.

I personally feel the same in this incident. But like I said before I really shouldn't be weighing in because I don't know anything about this scenario other than the news article breakdown. No charges or not that stepfather is in a shitty place and will never be the same. I feel he acted in good faith and I can't fault him for that.

[Dave_L]

This just emphasizes the importance of having the conversation with your family. The wife and I know to identify ourselves if one of us comes in late or something. We call before we walk in, announce to each other its "me" if the dogs start barking, etc.

You don't think about having to deal with a teen sneaking back in but you have to be realistic when you have kids. They don't think about this stuff so you have to. Also a good way to help encourage them to not sneak out.

I can't imagine how the step dad is feeling. That'd be horrible.