“Two 15-year-old Philadelphia boys face murder charges for shooting a man while he walked his dog, firing the final round as he pleaded for his life,” nydailynews.com reports. “The cold-hearted teens and a 14-year-old boy targeted 51-year-old James Stuhlman for a robbery after they tired of playing basketball, police Captain James Clark told reporters.” Sad but true: Stuhlman was just walking his dog in the otherwise quiet Philly neighborhood of Overbrook, where movie star Will Smith attended high school. After apprehension, the 14-year-old perp sang like a canary. The murder went down like this . . .
Stuhlman [above] usually brought his 13-year-old daughter along on the nightly walks through the city’s Overbrook neighborhood, but on March 12 he decided to go alone — a decision that may have saved her life.
The three boys were prowling the streets for a victim, cops said.
They considered another, younger man but settled on Stuhlman, because he seemed like an easier target with his little dog.
The married father struggled briefly with the boys before Tyfine allegedly opened fire. They ran as Stuhlman crumpled.
Cops found the man still clutching the dog leash and a flashlight, NBC 10 reported. His faithful pet lay trembling next to his lifeless body.
So two teens turned amoral predators choose [what they considered to be] the easiest victim for the crime. I wonder if they would have had any second thoughts about attacking a random stranger if Philadelphia’s attempts to limit lawful gun ownership, even in defiance of state preemption laws, hadn’t been in place, and a significant percentage of dog walkers – say 10 percent – were armed in their own defense.
Probably not. Which makes it all the more important for Americans to arm themselves against unprovoked attack. My suburban Austin neighborhood is squeaky clean, cut-off from a main road, replete within itself. But I don’t walk my dogs without packing heat. Why would I? I only wish Mr. Stuhlman had been “that paranoid.”