Man given 16 years for shooting at kids throwing snowballs

[groundloop]

Source: ABC News

A Wisconsin man convicted of shooting at a group of children who threw snowballs at his car in 2020 received a 16-year prison sentence on Friday.

WITI-TV reports that prosecutors had asked for a 25-year prison sentence after jurors found William Carson guilty of two counts of first-degree reckless injury and five counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety in November.

According to court records, seven children were throwing snowballs at passing cars on Milwaukee’s north side in January 2020. A driver later identified as Carson turned his car around, got out and fired a gun at the group.

Prosecutors have said two of the children were hurt after being shot in the thigh and arm. A third child's jacket was grazed by a bullet.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-16-years-shooting-kids-throwing-snowballs-96895966

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The judge also ordered 10 years of extended supervision.

[Diamond_Dog]

1. ....sigh .... shaking head ....

At least this hot head got nailed. And no one was seriously hurt.

Geez ….

[PerceptionManagement]

2. yes he's black, why do you ask? I'm sure that had nothing to with anything

[marmar]

3. Huh?

[keopeli]

6. what are you talking about? your post seems incendiary and inflammatory.

[Grokenstein]

18. I *THINK* he means how this guy got convicted while Killer Kyle and his ilk get away with it.

[Polybius]

21. Big difference

Two completely different situations.

[Hekate]

8. You have a photo or citation for that statement?

[ShazzieB]

9. What DOES his being black have to do with anything?

I'm not sure what you're getting at.

He did an awful thing. Yes, he's black, but so what? He fired a gun at children. CHILDREN, who I'd bet were probably black themselves. And he injured some of them:

Prosecutors have said two of the children were hurt after being shot in the thigh and arm. A third child's jacket was grazed by a bullet.

If there's a point you wanted to make, I have no idea what it was.

[ZZenith]

14. Ironic screen name you've chosen there!

Welcome to DU.

[Hekate]

16. Decided to look him up on DU & #1 he joined long ago, #2 he has one hell of a personal site...

…which I will never visit again.
perceptionmanagers.org

[erronis]

4. Wow. I remember doing the same thing when I was in grade school. Just got yelled at.

And that worked very well.

Guess not everyone packed weapons back in the 50s/60s.

[Warpy]

12. I think most kids who lived in places where they could make snowballs did it

They don't think of cars as having people in them, they're just things that are big enough for kids to hit.

Most people in the 50s and 60s had been in WWII or Korea and never wanted to see a gun again unless they were hunters.

[Demobrat]

13. So do I. It's what kids do.

Nobody got shot.

[Eyeball_Kid]

26. Many decades ago, one of my more diabolical activities was to hit cars with snowballs.

Yeah, I was an adolescent. And yeah. I wasn't sensitive to the shock that a loud bang on a driver's window would have... until... I got a driver's license and I was then subject to snowball-throwing adolescents. And did I get pissed when it happened to me. And... yeah, guns weren't everywhere, so virtually no one was going to seek revenge by pulling out a pistol and firing away. It was a very different world then.

[keopeli]

5. He's 24 years old. If he gets out in 10 years, he'll be 44 when he's finished probation.

Something tells me that may not be long enough for this evil person who shoots a gun at children playing.

[Renew Deal]

7. Why wasn't he charged with attempted murder?

[greatbaldeagle]

10. Should be attempted murder

16 years is not enough time for shooting kids. There are people with longer prison sentences for drug charges.

[Demobrat]

11. Did he cry in court

and say he didn’t mean it? Just curious because of this comment by the judge:

There is this other side of you that is impulsive, reckless, violent – I think self-centered,” Hanrahan said during a sentencing hearing on Friday in Milwaukee.

Sounds like the perp was attempting to portray himself as a good guy who just made a little mistake.

[2live is 2fly]

15. Its not as if this guy fired up in the air or into the ground or whatever, like he was just

trying to put a scare into these kids. He shot directly at them. A lot of the people who're shot in the leg end-up bleeding to death because of the major blood vessels (arteries). He's lucky no one died, he'd be up on a murder charge. Idiot!

[tornado34jh]

17. Are you serious?

Good grief. I know kids have thrown snowballs at cars and buses. Yeah, they may get chewed out for it and that's it, but shooting a gun at these kids? Pathetic and unacceptable as well as being way over the line. That could have led to murder. I swear, people can't handle themselves sometimes, and you wonder why we shouldn't have nice things.

[NJCher]

23. I think we have fairly sufficient proof

That the people of the United States cannot handle guns.

Guns should be taken away until people can handle them. We do that with children right? If a child has a toy that he or she abuses or hurts others with, we take that toy away from them. We tell them that when they can show they can handle the toy properly, they can have it back.

[twodogsbarking]

24. That makes sense. They will never do it.

[tornado34jh]

25. Indeed

It's the same with cars right? If used improperly, it can lead to death. Both have one thing that can kill: speed. People can have their license suspended/revoked if they aren't using it properly, so why wouldn't the same apply to guns? But of course, this would never happen with guns. People are using the 2nd amendment as an excuse, when really that was not what it was intended for. I am sure when it was first drafted, people back then knew how to handle rifles/guns.

[LudwigPastorius]

19. Jail time is good.

Add on never being allowed to own a gun again. That would be better, but we can't have that because...'MURIKA.

[Aussie105]

22. Kids throw snow balls . . .

Man not happy.
Man has gun.
Man fires gun.

And why wouldn't you?

Just another normal day in America, nothing to see here. Move along.

On another day:

Man sees 2 people breaking into his neighbor's house through a side window.
Man gets shotgun.
Two robbers run from house, away from man with shotgun.
Man shoots anyway.
Two deaths.
Man upset.

Just another normal day in America, nothing to see here. Move along.

[Martin68]

27. Must have been white kids. Shooters who shoot black kids dead don't get that much time, do they?

[NullTuples]

33. The intersection listed is in the Silver Spring neighborhood - predominantly Black

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/silver-spring-milwaukee-wi/residents/

[bahboo]

28. Jesus...throwing snowballs at cars was a time honored activity when we were kids...

most excitement was when somebody would get out of their car and chase us...

[appleannie1]

29. Thankfully guns were not a dime a dozen when I was a kid

Our favorite target was the guy with a shovel in the back of the ash truck. Sleds don't go far on ash covered streets so we felt justified.

[RayStar]

30. Dummy

Dang just awful.

[sakabatou]

31. What was this guy thinking?

He couldn't have just yelled at them?

[Demobrat]

32. What a stupid thing to ruin your life over.

Ten years in jail and a lifetime with a prison record. Over a snowball.

[NullTuples]

34. When the cops found him on the other side of the city a week later he was driving drunk, so...

He also had the gun on him, which they ran and it matched.

[Demobrat]

35. But I was drunk, your honor.

I didn’t know what I was doing. So it doesn’t count, right?