Black fourteen-year-old knocks on homeowner's door to ask for directions to school, gets shot at. fox2detroit.com/news/local-new…
He missed his bus and didn't have his phone because his mom had confiscated it as a punishment. She works nights, and he was headed to school on his own steam.
The guy who shot him fumbled with his shotgun because it had the safety on, but "was eventually able to fire a shot as Walker ran away, authorities said."
clickondetroit.com/news/rochester…
clickondetroit.com/news/rochester…
Also note that (1) he'd gotten directions from another house earlier, (2) there's video of the encounter, and (3) he survived. If none of those three things were true, the story would be circulating as "retired firefighter shoots black teen in home invasion."
Not looking to spark a pile-on—really, don't harass this person—but I am not shocked to see that I've already received the first comment calling the kid's story suspicious.
To recap: He missed his bus, took a shortcut through an unfamiliar neighborhood, and got turned around. He also didn't have his phone, which he usually has with him.
Also, he's 14 and in high school, which means he's almost certainly a first-year. New school as of last September.
Also also: As noted above, we have witness testimony about his asking for directions at the first house and video of the second encounter. The cops believe him and have arrested the guy who shot at him.
This is as clear-cut as a situation like this could be. There's literally no claim on the record—not even from the people whose door he knocked on—that his story might not be exactly as he describes it.
And yet there will inevitably be people who suspect him of being the villain and suspect the guy who shot at him as he was running away as his victim. Why? You know exactly why.
Oh, and this is the county sheriff: "I feel terrible for the young man; I feel terrible for the mom and the anxiety that they had to go through. We are going to ask for every charge permissible for this guy, who stepped up and fired a shotgun because someone knocked on his door."
When a county sheriff is being that emphatic in support of a 14-year-old black kid over a retired firefighter less than 24 hours after an incident, it's pretty safe to assume the video evidence speaks volumes.
The guy who fired a shotgun at a fleeing teenager who'd asked his wife for directions to school is Jeffrey Ziegler, 53. He's been charged with charged with assault with intent to murder and felony firearms violations. clickondetroit.com/news/sheriff-r…
Oh, and the shooter was found guilty of felony gun charges in 2006 after an incident in which he was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon.
Also, here's Ziegler's arraignment. The prosecutor tells the judge that video shows that Ziegler lied about what happened in the incident, and the kid told the truth.
And tellingly, Ziegler refers to the 14-year-old kid he tried to kill as "the gentleman."
