Shooting May Have Been Sparked By Sidewalk Chalk

[The Straight Story]

Shooting May Have Been Sparked By Sidewalk Chalk

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Police believe that sidewalk chalk may have promoted a shooting on Thursday that left one man injured and another in jail.

The shooting occurred at about 4 p.m. in front of a home on Sestos Drive, located on the city's south side.

According to police, four children were using chalk to draw on a sidewalk when Jeffrey McDowell, 59, came out of his home and told them to stop, 10TV News reported.

The children ran inside their home and told their mother's boyfriend, Shawn Jarvis, that McDowell used foul language while telling them to stop using the chalk.

Jarvis went outside to confront McDowell and McDowell allegedly pulled a gun and shot Jarvis in the hand, 10TV News reported.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2009/04/17/story_chalk.html?sid=102

My headline would have been:
Violence May Have Been Sparked By Sidewalk Chalk

Shooting was over the line, but so would have been beating, hitting, stabbing, etc and so on.

Can't people just chill the hell out???

[flvegan]

1. If the children had guns instead of chalk, McDowell wouldn't have had a chance.

And that's one to grow on.

[The Straight Story]

2. If the kids had cars they could of run him over too

:shrug:

[flvegan]

3. Lets split the difference. If the kids had pitbulls...

nah, nevermind. The pitbulls would have eaten the children, stolen the gun, carjacked a ride and driven down the sidewalk killing everyone.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Who is calling for children to possess guns?

[asdjrocky]

4. That's it, I'm convinced...

We need to arm the children.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. Good thing it is just you calling for that.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. I was declared an armed menace by my high school vice principal

I took exception to the ritual bullying of the new kid and dropped the three seniors on the varsity football offensive line. He was also the football coach. He argued that I should have accepted the beat down rather than defend myself. He would have been a Brady Bunch supporter if he were around today.

[varelse]

5. If anyone involved had put common sense, courtesy, and decency in play

there'd have been no violence of any kind.

Kids could have used their chalk where it didn't piss off a neighbor.

Neighbor could have had a polite conversation with the parents about the use of chalk on the (public) sidewalk in front of his house.

Parents could have 1) told the kids to clean up the chalk and use it on a portion of the sidewalk near a more tolerant neighbor 2) had a firm but polite chat with grumpy neighbor over use of language.

Why can't people treat each other with the same respect each of them feels they personally deserve?

Probably because people no longer realize that respect is mutual by nature. It's never a one-way street.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. When we were kids, and got yelled at by a grouchy neighbor,

we knew not to go home and complain because our parents would have gotten right on us for bothering the grouchy neighbor.

Let's face it, folks: we're raising vegetables, not kids.

[inwiththenew]

7. We should ban chalk

For the children safety.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

10. Banning the kids is a better idea.

[Codeine]

11. Because people are idiots about their precious offspring.

Any criticism of their children is met with a full frontal assault, be it criticism from a teacher, law enforcement, or simply a neighbor. Parents are - in the main - pathetic imbeciles raising a generation of even more pathetic uber-imbeciles who will plague us all.