This is taken from another post/thread on another forum. ( three parts ) Teen Shot Over Snowball Fight PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― A Philadelphia teenager celebrating his 16th birthday is fighting for his life after a senseless shooting over an errant snowball. Authorities said the Feltonville teen, identified as Tavin Rutledge, was shot in the head at point-blank range while playing with neighborhood friends in the 4800 block of D Street. Witnesses say the shooting was sparked from a casual snowball fight amongst children. A friend of Tavin's, involved in the playful snowball fight, said the shooting happened after a wayward snowball accidentally struck a nearby neighbor. The girl tells CBS 3 another adult male witnessed the incident and became enraged. Neighbors say even though Tavin apologized to the man, he pulled out a gun and began firing. Family and friends celebrating Tavin's birthday heard gunshots and found Tavin bleeding on the front porch. "We ran outside and saw Tavin laying on the step," said the victim's friend Mercedes Lebron. "When I picked him up, smoke started coming out of his head … He still was breathing and we told him keep breathing, calm down." Tavin was rushed to Temple University hospital where he was placed on life-support. As of Monday morning he remained in critical condition with his family by his side. Everyone who knows Tavin, described as a nice, well-liked boy, is trying to cope with the senseless shooting. "It was just a snowball fight," said neighbor Catherine Briggs. "They were outside having fun with snowballs and instead of hitting him back with a snowball, he came back and shot him with a gun," said neighbor Monica Albelo. Philadelphia police detectives said they are actively searching for the gunman and are pursuing several good leads. ptII Teen Shot Over Snowball Fight Dies Philadelphia - A young man who had been shot in the head over a snowball fight yesterday, on his 16th birthday, died this morning. Tavin Rutledge had been at Temple University Hospital on life support. He was pronounced dead at 11:34 a.m. The shooting was one of three this weekend, two of them fatal, as the city's murder rate climbed to 43. Homicide Lt. Mel Williams said the victim and a friend were having a snowball fight in their Feltonville neighborhood when they accidentally hit the alleged shooter, who became enraged, went home, returned with a gun and shot the teen. However, one of the teens involved gave a different account. Travis Davis, 13, said he and Tavin were throwing snowballs at each other on D Street near Rockland when they hit a passer-by. A man Travis said he knows only as Omar, in his early 30s, witnessed the incident and chastised the teens for throwing snowballs at the man. The boys sassed him and Omar told the boys, "I'm going home to get my gun and you better not be here when I come back." Travis said through sobs that he warned Tavin, who was visiting for the day, that he knew Omar and had seen his gun. He told Tavin to get out of sight. Tavin went into a friend's house, where other teens urged him to stay indoors. Instead, he went outside and sat on the steps. Omar came back with a gun about 4:45 p.m. and found Tavin, witnesses said. "I'm not going to fight you," Tavin told the man, witnesses said. "If you want to shoot me, shoot me." The man fired one shot that hit Tavin in the head, then he jogged toward Eleanor Street, about a block away. Witnesses said young occupants of the house rushed out and tried to stop the bleeding with towels. "Breathe," they urged Tavin. "Try to breathe." "I'm trying," he managed to say before lapsing into unconsciousness. A police officer rushed the boy to the hospital. After the shooting, police went to Omar's house on Eleanor Street near D and called through a bullhorn for him to give himself up. After about a half-hour, the cops entered the house and discovered that Omar was not there. "He was a quiet kid who never gave trouble," said Luis Payano, owner of a corner store, near D and Rockland streets. "He always bought a cheesesteak and soda." In the other shootings, one man was shot to death and another wounded shortly before 7 last night on 31st Street near Berks, North Philadelphia. The unidentified victims were taken to Temple University where one was pronounced dead, and the other admitted in stable condition. An unidentified 16-year-old boy died Saturday afternoon when he was shot multiple times in the face and body shortly after noon. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital about 20 minutes later. Police issued a warrant for a suspect, who was not immediately identified. ptIII Suspect Held In Snowball Slaying On a tip from a passerby, city police arrested Jose Mendez, charged with shooting a teen on Feb. 24. Philadelphia police yesterday arrested the fugitive sought in the fatal shooting of a Feltonville teenager over a stray snowball. Jose Mendez, 24, was charged with murder after police, alerted by a passerby, found him in a vacant apartment in the 4600 block of Adams Avenue in the Lower Northeast. A man flagged down two Highway Patrol officers about 10:30 a.m. and directed them, they said, to a man matching the description of the gunman who shot Teven Rutledge, 16, on Feb. 24. Officers Michael Moore and Vincent Viseo and two backup officers entered the apartment with guns drawn, Moore said. Mendez tried to flee into the bathroom but was quickly apprehended. "He didn't really know where to go," Moore said. Police did not recover a weapon. Mendez was charged with murder, violations of the uniform firearms act, and reckless endangerment, Homicide Lt. Mel Williams said. Rutledge had been having a snowball fight with friends in the 4800 block of D Street when one of the snowballs hit Mendez as he was leaving a store, Williams said. Words were exchanged, and Mendez left, then allegedly returned with a gun and shot the teen in the head after further argument, Williams said. It was the victim's 16th birthday. Rutledge died the next day at Temple University Hospital. Police named Mendez as the suspect and released his photograph Wednesday. He is from Puerto Rico and had lived at several addresses in the city. His last known residence was in the 3000 block of Waters Street, police said. The apartment where Mendez was found is about a mile from the shooting site. Police said they were grateful for "overwhelming support" from witnesses who stepped forward in the days after the shooting. "We want to thank the community for helping the police get this suspect off the street," Williams said. "It's a senseless murder," he said. "There's a 16-year-old out there playing, and he got shot because he inadvertently hit somebody in the face with a snowball." Moore, who attended the news conference announcing the arrest, said: "I'm just glad we got somebody of this magnitude off the street." Whats the world comming to eh? its mind boggling how screwed the world and the people in it can be.
If you read the all of the reports theres one story where he kinda toys with the shooter.. still how unstable must you be?
what a scumbag why would you even contemplate killing some one for gittin hit with a snowball where i live theres lots of stabbings aswell not a lot of shootings though
That's really a sad story, I hate to think where we will be in the years to come. It seems people are getting shot just for looking at people the wrong way these days....
Screw the death penalty, lock them in a cage somewhere and let them starve to death. If you're going to needlessly take somebodys' life like that, you deserve to suffer for the rest of yours.
It's PA. No death penalty... Of course this happens in Philly...where else? i can see why people think the world is fundamentally messed up.
**** the 3 meals a day, give them 1 meal of an ounce of rice, a single glass of water, and put them in solitary and let them live that way for the rest of their life.
Screw that. Nail the guys feet to the ceiling and keep him there, if he is lucky, he'll choke on his own blood. If not, he'll die of starvation.
