Authorities are investigating after a 6-year-old boy shot his grandfather during a family barbecue, Sunday.
Police arrested Juan Manuel Martinez, Jr. after his 6-year-old nephew discharged Martinez' unattended rifle and killed Martinez' father, Juan Manuel Martinez, Sr. "It's not his fault. He didn't know what he was doing. He's just a little boy. I love him. He's my family. I love all my family," said Martinez as he was embraced by his brother Marco Martinez.
The victim's family describe Martinez, Sr. as a hardworking man who made his money driving trucks after he arrived in the U.S. from Mexico. His family said he also volunteered his time as a youth baseball couch.
On Sunday, Martinez, Sr. and his son were having a barbecue with family and friends at their home off Northwest Fourth Street and Eighth Avenue in Homestead. According to police, Martinez, Jr. was showing off his assault rifle. He then passed the gun to his father who then set the loaded gun on a table and left it unattended for a moment. During that time Martinez, Jr.'s 6-year-old nephew gained access to the rifle and pulled the trigger fatally shooting his grandfather in the chest.
You know at our family picnics we usually have potato salad and burgers. And everybody leaves their weaponry at home.
The idea that these people thought it was appropriate to bring out a loaded firearm and pass it around with children milling about, is completely indefensible to me.
But this is the kind of country we live in now, where it is apparently reasonable to have deadly firearms around small children and beloved family members.
And if somebody dies? Well that is just the price you pay to live in America.
Sickening.
ReplyDeleteSheer madness.
ReplyDeleteGetting to be as commonplace as rush hour traffic.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have run out of tears.
ReplyDeleteWell, rather have the adult shot than the child.
ReplyDeleteUh, no. It wasn't the idiot uncle that brought the gun, but the innocent grand-dad. Now the kid has to live with having killed his grandfather.
DeleteSix years old is old enough to understand everything that happened.
DeleteThis child will be haunted by his actions for the rest of his life. No amount of therapy is going to help.
"Hun, I'me loading the car for the picnic. I've got hot dogs, buns, potato salad, mac & cheese, condiments, a few pies, the lemonade, water, beer, paper plates and cups, paper towels, sunscreen....Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, don't forget the weaponry just in case we are attacked."
ReplyDeleteNow they have a personal Memorial to remember every Memorial Day. That poor kid.
Nope, it's "Don't forget the weaponry because my penis is very tiny or completely nonexistent".
Delete"That poor kid."
DeleteThank you.
A child's life has been upended.
"Picnics (family, love, peace)" are now ruined for him.
And everyone else in attendance.
The victims are legion.
That kid is old enough to never forget what he did - he'll live w/this this rest of his life as will his parents. All because an idiot brought a loaded gun like that to a family BBQ!
DeleteGuns like that have no place in any home! If I'd been there, I would have told the guy to take it home or put it somewhere safe under lock and key and NOT on display for all to see or touch!
The gun was part of the household where the gathering was. Why the guy kept a LOADED AK-47 is because Fox and Rush and the "Christian" leaders are telling them to be afraid of Obama and the government. Our government. Not Russia. Not Somalia. The US government. It's insane. The only saving grace is that they are killing each other off, and the NRA won't let anyone keep tabs.
DeleteAssault rifles simply do not have ANY place except on the battlefield. And maybe not even there. (If NOBODY had them...nobody would NEED them...)
DeleteA male showing off to other males is the basis of much trouble in this world. Guns, cars, unaffordable houses, sexual bragging rights, even the UCSB shooter wanted to be an alpha male. I don’t think it can be fixed.
ReplyDeleteGuns could be controlled somewhat, but Obama won’t do it and the Clintons won’t do it. Guess who would do it? Bloomberg. I don’t really want an independent Republican president, but if Obama and Clinton solve the other problems, then I might consider that. He’d be in his eighties.
Another Darwin award I guess.
ReplyDeleteAssault rifles unattended at a picnic.
Okaaaay.
With every one of these, those who shout 2nd Amendment look sillier and sillier.
DeleteSorry no. All of these bozos have already procreated.
DeleteApparently Juan Manuel Martinez, Jr. had indulged in certain controlled substances before he sashayed out to show off his gun.
ReplyDeleteAnd in other news an Oklahoma gun range just got a liquor license... I can't wait (sarcasm) to see what kind of news comes out of Oklahoma City in the weeks and months following.
According to police, there were people drinking and doing drugs at the home. "In this particular case, investigators informed us, that there was alcohol involved. Not only alcohol. We also had drugs. We had cocaine," said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
Deletemikeb302000.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteA cite that covers only gun crimes. Check it out. This, sadly, happens everyday.
Grandpa's own stupidity caused his death.
'scuse me, I don't think it was grandpa's gun.
DeleteGrandpa set the loaded gun down and the child grabbed it.
DeleteAll of t the adults are guilty- just not dead.
What is wrong w/Americans today? Having this type of gun - loaded - at a family picnic/BBQ - is idiotic. If anyone brought that type gun to ANYTHING I was attending, I'd ask them to put it in their car/truck/van and to lock the vehicle.
ReplyDeletePeople need to take responsibility when any type of gun is brought to a function - whether it's their home or not!
"It's not his fault. He didn't know what he was doing. He's just a little boy. I love him. He's my family. I love all my family," said Martinez.
ReplyDeleteHe happened to love his guns more..........
excellent
ReplyDeleteGuns beer barbeque and coke!
ReplyDelete"According to the report, the younger Martinez had been drinking beer and snorting cocaine during the barbecue when he went to his room and grabbed the rifle to show it to his friend.
The older Martinez handled the rifle and placed it on a nearby table with the magazine inside, the report said. A short time later, the 6-year-old boy was able to gain access to rifle and pull the trigger, hitting Martinez Sr. in the chest."
www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Man-Charged-After-6-Year-Old-Shoots-and-Kills-Grandfather-With-Unattended-Rifle-260911271.html
Also too, Palin fellow wingnut confused about what happened at UCSB. An accident?!
"What happened in that shooting and that stabbing is an absolute tragedy,” Ernst said. “However, I remain firm in my commitment to the Second Amendment. I have been endorsed by the [National Rifle Association] in this race, and again, just because of a horrible, horrible tragedy, I don’t believe we should be infringing upon people’s Second Amendment rights.”
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/Joni-Ernst-shooting-accident-infringe-gun-rights
“This unfortunate accident happened after the ad, but it does highlight that I want to get rid of, repeal, and replace Bruce Braley’s Obamacare,” she added, referencing her Democratic opponent. “And it also shows that I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. That is our fundamental right.”
Gryphen, thank you for posting stories like this one; it's important to have these tragedies out there. I can't fathom why the MSM sites like HuffPo aren't covering these stories- they are more interested in posting cheap photos of the Kardashians, celebrities without makeup, etc.
ReplyDeleteIf more people would see these stories, maybe they would be inclined to vote out the politicians who are supported by the NRA.
Anyway, thank you Gryph, for all that you do!
R in NC
Ammosexuals Are Working Overtime To Blame ANYTHING But Guns For Latest Mass Shooting
ReplyDeleteRemember when “politicizing a tragedy” was frowned upon by conservatives? Yeah, those days are gone. Now it’s Autism! Video Games! Homosexuality! Women! Seth Rogan? Right now, the ammosexual right is furiously trying to distract from the latest gun massacre and use it to advance their socially regressive agenda. They’re throwing every excuse at the wall like monkeys flinging poop to see which one sticks. Here’s Erick Erickson of Redstate.com’s handful of crap:
QUOTE
...See? Elliot Rodger was the victim! If only liberals would have let him behave like a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, he wouldn’t have gone out and behaved like a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. Or something. Look, buddy! Don’t think about it, OK?! Just accept that liberals are to blame and not guns!
...Erickson’s nonsense is straight out of the NRA’s playbook of smoke and mirrors and I hope he enjoys cashing his blood soaked check from Wayne LaPierre. If success is measured by the inanity of the “don’t blame guns!” excuse, Erickson is due for a bonus.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/05/30/ammosexual-erick-erickson/
Fox News ‘Expert’ Fired After Blaming Santa Barbara Shootings On ‘Homosexual Impulses’
ReplyDeleteOnly a few hours after the massacre in Santa Barbara last Friday night, Dr. Robi Ludwig — the so-called expert psychologist Fox News chooses to throw in front of a camera on occasions such as these — believed she had watched enough YouTube and read enough of the killer’s manifesto to assert that his motivation must have been driven by “homosexual impulses.”
...Following the statement, all remnants of Ludwig’s employment, including her profile page and all writings performed for the company, had been summarily scrubbed from their website. It is uncertain if this is the first domino to fall in light of Dr. Ludwig’s offensive and professionally misguided comments.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/05/29/robi-ludwig-fired/
What?!? I actually READ most of Elliot Rodger's sickening and heartbreaking "manifesto," and there wasn't a shred of homosexual imagery to be found! He nurtured a deep rage at nubile young California blondes (like I used to be) for not sleeping with him.
DeleteWhatever Close-Cover-Before-Striking institute of higher education gave "Dr." Robi her doctorate should be ashamed!
Let them be the first of THOUSANDS.
ReplyDeleteSonic Drive-In And Chili's Announce No-Gun Policies
Chili’s and Sonic Drive-In announced no-gun policies on Friday, nearly two weeks after pro-gun activists carrying rifles upset customers in two of the restaurant chains’ Texas locations.
Chili's and Sonic said in separate statements that they were asking customers not to openly carry firearms in their eateries, following a similar move by Chipotle earlier this month.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30/chilis-sonic-gun_n_5419942.html
Sadly, the deadly firearms seem to be beloved family members for far too many. The wife, kids, and other relatives? Just people living under the same roof as them.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, how was the family barbecue?
ReplyDeletelololololololol
DeleteOMG
You win!!!!
Was he a politician......?......Plumb-bob square Joe approves.....
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that this outcome has become so commonplace.
ReplyDeleteToddlers and pre-schoolers must be bigger these days. And stronger. Based on the 3 times I've fired a gun -- handgun once, .22 rifle twice -- I don't understand how they can do it. I needed both hands to hold the handgun which someone else had loaded as I couldn't move the slide-thingey. The .22 had to have the stock cut down before I could reach the trigger.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, how do the little people with little hands do it?
These kids don't have to hold a gun; or how to point it, aim it, know how to operate it, even know anything about it.
DeleteAll that is required is that someone loaded it, and left it where a child can reach it. A few pounds of force on the trigger sends the bullet on their way.
Remember, the NRA and the gun nuts say guns don't kill, people do. But sometimes the under 10 child kills with a lot of help from the gun.
Kids these days play a lot of video games that increase their coordination and hand strength.
DeletePlus, many of these gun owners like to have a hair trigger so they can be faster on the draw.
Quickest shooter wins, right?
Is being a youth baseball couch harder than being a youth baseball dugout?
ReplyDelete'youth baseball couch'
ReplyDeleteI think you meant 'coach' and most people probably read it that way.
thanks spelling police.
Deletewe usually just let typos go here as we are smart enough to get the intended meaning.
That's spelling couch to you ...
DeleteThey shoulda eaten @ Chipotle or Chilis. No guns there.
ReplyDeleteAccording to police, Martinez, Jr. was showing off his assault rifle. He then passed the gun to his father who then set the loaded gun on a table and left it unattended for a moment.
ReplyDeleteSo many of these "accident" stories happen because someone is worshipping his gun, showing it off, playing with it, fondling it. A family picnic is an inappropriate venue to be bringing out a dangerous weapon and passing it around for everyone else to fondle.
Disgusting. These gun nuts are fetishizing these deadly weapons.
Stupid is as stupid does!
ReplyDeleteAs sad and sickening and easily preventable as these stories are, these kids have better aim than the ones who practice. Once again, it's no accident, not even close.
ReplyDeleteIt's long past due that we ask/demand that our elected politicians discuss reasonable and sensible gun control legislation. We cannot let the Sandy Hook parents and others down! This is an atrocity! No one's rights will be infringed upon, we should be a civil society.
ReplyDeleteWhy was it loaded?
ReplyDeleteWere they expecting the family picnic to be overrun by Al Queda? An attack by the Taliban?
Why does anyone need an assault rifle?????? Even in the zombie apocalypse you only need a sharp tool to stick into their brainstems!!
ReplyDelete