Indianapolis Star
To the teenage boys, egging the vehicles Sunday night was just a prank. So when one driver got out of his pickup truck and cursed at them, 16-year-old Jude Sayles didn't worry. "I just figured that they'd call the police and that'd be the worst that would happen," Sayles said. "I didn't know he was going to shoot us."
Minutes later, his best friend, Brandon Dunson, 15, lay fatally wounded, a bullet fired from the truck lodged in his stomach. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. The motorist in the red or maroon Ford truck, with a white stripe, fled the scene. Late Monday, Marion County sheriff's detectives were seeking the public's help in locating the driver, a white male in his 30s who witnesses said was at the wheel.
Detectives aren't sure why egg throwing turned a motorist into a killer. A sheriff's report suggested a possible reason for the level of his rage. After the driver stopped his pickup truck -- but before the shooting -- he approached another vehicle that also had been egged and told the female driver that an egg had gone through his window and hit him in the face. "It's OK," he added, "because I have my rifle."
The Far-Westside killing was the fifth shooting death in less than seven weeks of boys 16 and younger in Marion County. Again, loved ones grieved. "Like any 15-year-old, they are going to get into a little bit of mischief here or there, but nothing that was deserving of something like this," said Frederick Dunson, 32, Brandon's uncle.
Relatives gathered Monday at Dunson's home -- a mile from the shooting -- and complained about the senselessness of the crime. They stared at a color photo of the Ben Davis High School football team. Dunson was a linebacker. He also was a "B student" and a churchgoer and planned to go to college, either to be a lawyer or a pro football player. "He was a good kid," said Leroy Dunson III, 39, another uncle. Of the shooter, he added: "The guy does not need to be on the street if he's shooting at a kid for throwing an egg."
The incident began around 11 p.m. when six or seven teenagers gathered at a Burger King. Some in the group, made up of both white and black youths, thought it would be fun to toss eggs at passing cars near Girls School and Rockville roads, said Sayles, who will be a freshman at Ben Davis this fall. He said they struck only a couple of vehicles. Sayles said that when one hit the truck, a man inside the vehicle stopped and got out. He yelled profanities at the boys and drove away. The teens decided to stop throwing eggs.
About 10 minutes later, as the boys walked along Rockville Road, the truck appeared again, and the teens said they heard a series of gunshots. "Everybody was scattering," said Sheriff's Capt. Doug Scheffel. "He was chasing them and shooting at them." In the chaos and uncertainty, the teens tried to escape. As they ran in front of a public storage facility in the 7400 block of Rockville Road, Michael Dyer, 17, was shot in the upper right thigh. Dunson was hit in the back and fell. One of the teens, Lamar Johnson, 16, told detectives they believed the motorist was firing a BB gun at them. They assumed Dyer's injuries were the most severe.
According to sheriff's reports, Johnson said they advised Dunson to "stay put" and they would return later to help him. Dyer ran home, and his father called 911. Wayne Township paramedics took Dyer to Methodist Hospital. Johnson said he and another teen went back to the shooting location around 2 a.m. and found Dunson lying in a pool of blood. They called 911 from a cell phone. Authorities said Dunson was found face down, shot in the back. It was unclear why hours passed before they checked on him. The parents of some of the teens said the boys frequently hung out together and were responsible and law abiding. Still, young people frequently don't foresee the possible consequences of their acts, said Robert Ross, juvenile justice specialist for the Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force. "They're living for the moment," he said.
Minutes later, his best friend, Brandon Dunson, 15, lay fatally wounded, a bullet fired from the truck lodged in his stomach. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg. The motorist in the red or maroon Ford truck, with a white stripe, fled the scene. Late Monday, Marion County sheriff's detectives were seeking the public's help in locating the driver, a white male in his 30s who witnesses said was at the wheel.
Detectives aren't sure why egg throwing turned a motorist into a killer. A sheriff's report suggested a possible reason for the level of his rage. After the driver stopped his pickup truck -- but before the shooting -- he approached another vehicle that also had been egged and told the female driver that an egg had gone through his window and hit him in the face. "It's OK," he added, "because I have my rifle."
The Far-Westside killing was the fifth shooting death in less than seven weeks of boys 16 and younger in Marion County. Again, loved ones grieved. "Like any 15-year-old, they are going to get into a little bit of mischief here or there, but nothing that was deserving of something like this," said Frederick Dunson, 32, Brandon's uncle.
Relatives gathered Monday at Dunson's home -- a mile from the shooting -- and complained about the senselessness of the crime. They stared at a color photo of the Ben Davis High School football team. Dunson was a linebacker. He also was a "B student" and a churchgoer and planned to go to college, either to be a lawyer or a pro football player. "He was a good kid," said Leroy Dunson III, 39, another uncle. Of the shooter, he added: "The guy does not need to be on the street if he's shooting at a kid for throwing an egg."
The incident began around 11 p.m. when six or seven teenagers gathered at a Burger King. Some in the group, made up of both white and black youths, thought it would be fun to toss eggs at passing cars near Girls School and Rockville roads, said Sayles, who will be a freshman at Ben Davis this fall. He said they struck only a couple of vehicles. Sayles said that when one hit the truck, a man inside the vehicle stopped and got out. He yelled profanities at the boys and drove away. The teens decided to stop throwing eggs.
About 10 minutes later, as the boys walked along Rockville Road, the truck appeared again, and the teens said they heard a series of gunshots. "Everybody was scattering," said Sheriff's Capt. Doug Scheffel. "He was chasing them and shooting at them." In the chaos and uncertainty, the teens tried to escape. As they ran in front of a public storage facility in the 7400 block of Rockville Road, Michael Dyer, 17, was shot in the upper right thigh. Dunson was hit in the back and fell. One of the teens, Lamar Johnson, 16, told detectives they believed the motorist was firing a BB gun at them. They assumed Dyer's injuries were the most severe.
According to sheriff's reports, Johnson said they advised Dunson to "stay put" and they would return later to help him. Dyer ran home, and his father called 911. Wayne Township paramedics took Dyer to Methodist Hospital. Johnson said he and another teen went back to the shooting location around 2 a.m. and found Dunson lying in a pool of blood. They called 911 from a cell phone. Authorities said Dunson was found face down, shot in the back. It was unclear why hours passed before they checked on him. The parents of some of the teens said the boys frequently hung out together and were responsible and law abiding. Still, young people frequently don't foresee the possible consequences of their acts, said Robert Ross, juvenile justice specialist for the Indiana Juvenile Justice Task Force. "They're living for the moment," he said.
Michelle's Opinion
First of all, when I was 15 years old, my parents would never let me stay out past 11:00 p.m. I realize that most cities don't have much for teens to do these days. So, what's the best answer? Hang around fast food joints and parking lots...get drunk or high and act like an idiot? I have done some stupid and crazy things in my past, but what did these kids expect? If someone threw an egg at my car and it hit me in the head, I think my first instinct would be to get out of the car and kick some kid's ass. Although, if that really happened, I'm sure I'd be the one that was shot. I'm not saying that this driver had a right to shoot these kids, but in today's society you can't play the same kinds of pranks that you could get away with 20 years ago.
I feel sorry for the victim and his family, but I think that teens need to face consequences for their actions. When you throw eggs at cars and people that you don't know, how do you know what will happen?! What if this egg had caused an accident and innocent people were killed? You never know.
Word to the wise: Hey kids...don't act stupid. It may cost you your life.
I feel sorry for the victim and his family, but I think that teens need to face consequences for their actions. When you throw eggs at cars and people that you don't know, how do you know what will happen?! What if this egg had caused an accident and innocent people were killed? You never know.
Word to the wise: Hey kids...don't act stupid. It may cost you your life.
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