10-Year-Old Boy Tells 911 Operator He Shot Dad Out of Anger

[Sarutobi Asuma]

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — A recording of a six-minute call to emergency dispatchers obtained Thursday by the Associated Press details the moments after a 10-year-old boy allegedly shot his father in the head with a shotgun.

"Just get a doctor over here!" the desperate boy begs the operator on the night of Aug. 27. "Please hurry up. It looks like he's dying."

His father, 42-year-old Bryon Hilburn, was on the floor inside, still breathing, when police arrived at the family's home in Belen, just south of Albuquerque. He died later that night at a hospital.

Now, the boy faces a charge of first-degree murder.

The district attorney filed charges against the boy Tuesday. He cannot face adult sanctions because New Mexico law says a child must be 14 or older to be tried as an adult for murder. The boy remains in the custody of his mother. His name is being withheld because of his age.

During the call, the boy's desperation and concern was interrupted at times with frustration as the operator tried to figure out what had happened.

"I need a doctor. My dad's dying," the boy first tells the operator. The boy gets confused when the operator asks for the home's address. He tells her he will check on the mailbox and tells her his father is bleeding badly and "he fell asleep."

Then in a panicked voice as he breathed heavily, the boy gets further agitated when asked his father's age.

"I don't know. Just come and get him out of here!" he demands.

When the operator asked the boy if he knew what happened, the boy told her he shot his father out of anger.

"I was so over my head. I shot him in the back of the head. I got so angry at him," the boy says two minutes into the call. "Oh, please hurry."

The boy's attention then turns to his sister.

"Don't worry," he gently tells the girl before telling the operator: "Oh, my sister's crying her head off ... I think I hear the sirens."

When asked where the gun is, the boy tells the operator it's in "my dad's gun closet."

The boy can then be heard yelling to officers who arrived at the scene.

"Hurry! My dad!" he shouts at them as the call ends.

Hilburn was divorced and had custody of the boy and his two siblings. The boy's siblings have been staying with relatives following the shooting.

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department reports that state officials received nine calls regarding the family on a department hot line used to report possible child abuse or neglect. Officials substantiated only one claim involving the boy's mother.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572488,00.html

[Mattaru]

Is there no reason as to his motive? Seems like a caring child - can't really see this being an accident truth be told.

edit:

Ahhh...

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department reports that state officials received nine calls regarding the family on a department hot line used to report possible child abuse or neglect. Officials substantiated only one claim involving the boy's mother.

[The Space Cowboy]

You know...this is exactly why some people should not have guns in the house. I am all in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms, but in some cases it is not a good idea for certain households to have any firearms. This was one of those cases.

Proper firearms training, safety, and procedure, can all be short circuited & misused to horrific effect in the event of misguided juvenile anger. I know my 8 siblings and I have gotten into some nasty fights that could have gotten much worse had one party had access to firearms. Thus my parents wisely decided to not have any in the house for a very very very long time.

I think this little boy may very well just have traumatized himself, his sister, and his mother, for the rest of their lives. I hope they can someday forgive him. There is no punishment the state could levy on any of them that would be worse than the sorrow that this boy has brought upon himself.

[KFC]

Originally Posted by The Space Cowboy

You know...this is exactly why some people should not have guns in the house. I am all in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms, but in some cases it is not a good idea for certain households to have any firearms. This was one of those cases.

Proper firearms training, safety, and procedure, can all be short circuited & misused to horrific effect in the event of misguided juvenile anger. I know my 8 siblings and I have gotten into some nasty fights that could have gotten much worse had one party had access to firearms. Thus my parents wisely decided to not have any in the house for a very very very long time.

I think this little boy may very well just have traumatized himself, his sister, and his mother, for the rest of their lives. I hope they can someday forgive him. There is no punishment the state could levy on any of them that would be worse than the sorrow that this boy has brought upon himself.

Though, you've got to admit that those would be some badass, epic fights if there were guns involved...I mean, minus the whole dying thing of course...

[Kirsty]

Wow Thats bad

[Scholzee]

Anger issues to a new extreme .

[Karsh]

Why certain homes shouldn't have firearms in the house?
How is anyone going to be able to predict, exactly, if something like this will happen to one household rather than another?

Firearms shouldn't be kept in a house, period.
There are enough objects lying around any home to use as a murder weapon, without adding to the "accident" or "in the moment" situations such dangerous weapons as guns.

Lol a child facing 1st degree murder.

[Res Novae]

No doubt the prosecutor is salivating at his/her chance to lock the kid up for life.

[RyRyMini]

Yeah, there really is no need for guns to be kept inside. If you love hunting or whatever, then keep them away from kids or irresponsible people..store them elsewhere.

[T7 Bateman]

Sad story. Looks like the boy will not be charged as an adult.

[Tokoyami]

Originally Posted by KFC

Though, you've got to admit that those would be some badass, epic fights if there were guns involved...I mean, minus the whole dying thing of course...

A bunch of kids shooting at eachother with guns over juvenile issues....?

Negged.

[KFC]

Geeze...talk about not getting the joke...

[xpeed]

This is why I will never buy a gun when I have kids. Little bastards might turn it on me one day.

[The Space Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Karsh

Why certain homes shouldn't have firearms in the house?

How is anyone going to be able to predict, exactly, if something like this will happen to one household rather than another?

Predicting whether or not firearms are a good choice for a particular household is the personal jurisdiction of the household in question, barring major things such as felony convictions etc. Why must we blame society for the failings of an individual?

I consider this a failure of the firearm owner's gun control & parenting. Proper gun control means that you are in charge of your firearms at all times. The kid shouldn't have even had access to them, especially not if you as a parent recognize that your child has anger issues. Refusal to recognize those issues, or failure to, is your failure as a parent.

And no KFC. I don't consider the idea of kids settling stupid issues with firearms to be amusing. I think it's pretty damn sad, and you're a horrible individual for even suggesting that it would be amusing.

[dreams lie]

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department reports that state officials received nine calls regarding the family on a department hot line used to report possible child abuse or neglect. Officials substantiated only one claim involving the boy's mother.

Oh christ.

On the issue of guns control/guns in the house, while I believe that it would prevent such fatal accidents, we need to remember that these are well in the minority of gun deaths. This is why I'm uncertain if people should have a trigger locks or hide their weapons in a remote area; would they have the time to remove the trigger lock or get their firearms out when a burglar or some other assailant arrives? If not, then it isn't serving its purpose as a means of self defense.

[Miss Fortune]

Who said guns and anger were horrible?

[KFC]

My question on this whole thing is, how did the kid get it out of the safe? Cause that's where he said it was, right?

Originally Posted by dreams lie

Oh christ.

On the issue of guns control/guns in the house, while I believe that it would prevent such fatal accidents, we need to remember that these are well in the minority of gun deaths. This is why I'm uncertain if people should have a trigger locks or hide their weapons in a remote area; would they have the time to remove the trigger lock or get their firearms out when a burglar or some other assailant arrives? If not, then it isn't serving its purpose as a means of self defense.

Well, when you throw children into the mix, it changes things. Having an unlocked, loaded gun that's easy to find just BEGS for situations like these.

[Utopia Realm]

One instance and a whole family scarred for life. That kid must be going through unbelievable pain right now.

[dreams lie]

Originally Posted by KFC

My question on this whole thing is, how did the kid get it out of the safe? Cause that's where he said it was, right?



Well, when you throw children into the mix, it changes things. Having an unlocked, loaded gun that's easy to find just BEGS for situations like these.

No, it really doesn't. Children don't automatically pick up guns and decide to shoot each other, especially if they were taught otherwise. The only reason this happened was because the parent abused the boy. Also, educate yourself before sprouting such nonsense.

Fatal gun accidents involving children (aged 0-14) also fell significantly, from 495 in 1975, to under 250 in 1995. More children die from accidental drownings or burns than from gun accidents.

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvacci.html

If you want more neutral sites, here is abc and cdc.

In 2003, more than 2,000 children were killed by firearms, 182 from accidental shootings.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/US/story?id=1537300

In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 710 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents.

More than one in four fatal drowning victims are children 14 and younger. For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.

http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreation...-factsheet.htm

Use some common sense. Over 25% of 3500 (or 4200) deaths are easily higher than a 182.

[KFC]

Originally Posted by Utopia Realm

One instance and a whole family scarred for life. That kid must be going through unbelievable pain right now.

That's one of the things that I noticed about this as well. Most of the stories that you hear about this kind of thing has a tendency to portray the child as not feeling bad about the situation at all, but this one shows that the kid was actually sad about what he did.

And, Dreams Lie, I'll respond to you when you stop being so damn mad at me...