Officials: Children killed while pushing a pick-up

[MikeStone]

Officials: Children killed while pushing a pick-up: Driver Shot in Head

http://www.click2houston.com/news/Offic ... index.html

I guess we'll learn more about what happened later...driver shot in head crashes into pick-up truck, or driver crashes into pick-up truck, shot in head...

[n5wd]

"Detectives said it's too soon in the investigation to know how the driver ended up shot, or whether the shooting happened before or after the accident."

If I was a betting person, I'd give great odds on the offending gunshot being AFTER the crash. In my experience (25 years a paramedic), most folks with fatal gunshots to the head don't go driving very far.

[Thomas]

the driver of the vehicle that hit the truck had a gunshot wound to his head. He was flown to the hospital where he later died

That means the gunshot wound was not enough to kill him instantly, meaning he could have been shot before the crash and still be alive for the crash. It's possible the person who was shot thought he could drive to the hospital or someplace for help, but then lost consciousness on the road right before the crash.

Another possibility: The guy that crashed his truck was drunk or asleep, and in revenge for killing the one child (second died later), the mother or father (who was injured) shot the driver to make sure that driver never did something so stupid again. And the search warrant is for their house to look for that gun. Though if that was the case, I imagine there would be some gunshot residue on one of their clothes.

[n5wd]

Can't find the story to post a link, now, but apparently a search of the vehicles, the area around the crash, and the home of the kids/dad that were crashed into did not produce a gun, so the thinking of the leos now is that the driver of the vehicle was shot somewhere else and managed to drive away... into the kids pushing the pickup.

I'll eat my crow on that one.

[WildBill]

the driver of the vehicle that hit the truck had a gunshot wound to his head. He was flown to the hospital where he later died

That means the gunshot wound was not enough to kill him instantly, meaning he could have been shot before the crash and still be alive for the crash. It's possible the person who was shot thought he could drive to the hospital or someplace for help, but then lost consciousness on the road right before the crash.

Another possibility: The guy that crashed his truck was drunk or asleep, and in revenge for killing the one child (second died later), the mother or father (who was injured) shot the driver to make sure that driver never did something so stupid again. And the search warrant is for their house to look for that gun. Though if that was the case, I imagine there would be some gunshot residue on one of their clothes.

I heard on the radio on the way home from work that the driver was DWI. There are witnesses who heard from one to five shots.

[seamusTX]

The CSIs and medical examiner will have to figure out what happened in this case. It's sad on top of being bizarre.

I just want to point out that people have been shot and died of old age decades later, or they have died as a result of their gunshot injuries decades later:
http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=23793" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Large parts of the brain are not essential to life. A brain injury can cause subtle or profound problems such as loss of memory or the ability to speak, but the victim will continue to live and function on some level.

The authorities are now narrowing in on the deceased driver being shot after the collision:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/Name- ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 106270.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, witnesses saying after the fact that they heard gunshots is not very reliable testimony. People report gunshots all the time that actually are vehicle backfires, mechanical noises (like a truck dropping a Dumpster), or firecrackers.

- Jim

[philip964]

When you vehicle breaks down for any reason, try and get the car off the road if possible, drive on a flat tire if you have to. If not get as far over as possible, put the flashers on and get everyone out and away from the vehicle. People will drive into the rear of your stopped vehicle before you know it. Happens all the time. Drunk or not.

They said the driver was in the passenger seat. Could have been fleeing from the shooter.

I do not want to even think about how horribly mutilated those two innocent little boys were by the crash.

I'm suspecting the shooting was afterwards.

Really sad. So preventable.

[seamusTX]

I agree that getting a vehicle off the road and/or getting out of the vehicle is critical to safety. A lot of police officers and other emergency responders are injured and killed on the road in just this way.

A human life is not worth the cost of a tire or leaving a broke-down vehicle on the side of the road until the next day, when it can be dealt with in daylight.

It's kind of like the question of going outside to look for a "prowler" at night, which has gotten a lot of people killed.

- Jim

[philip964]

Barely took two days for another rear end fatality in Houston. Fortunately this time no innocent children were involved.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/1-dea ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just because you in a big car doesn't mean it will save you. RIP.

[seamusTX]

That kind of "underrun" crash is very common and often fatal, resulting in a closed-coffin wake because the deceased person's corpse is so mutilated. You can find gruesome photos (and probably Youtube videos) on the web.

- Jim

[Ericstac]

so if the shooting happened afterwards, was this driver being chased? I first thought the dad shot him for killing his two boys but the news said the dad was pinned as well. So that has me thinking if the witnesses are correct about the gunfire then this driver was trying to escape from someone and was probable looking at his tailend rather than what was in front of him and got into this accident, then his keeper rolled up shot him and moved along.

[seamusTX]

Nothing has come out. I created a news alert for it. Probably a report won't be issued until the autopsies are complete, which takes a while.

It's difficult to come up with any explanation that doesn't sound like the plot of a bad TV show. Very few people would react to severe injury accident by shooting the other driver. If the driver had shot himself after the crash, police would have found a weapon.

- Jim

[Dragonfighter]

"Detectives said it's too soon in the investigation to know how the driver ended up shot, or whether the shooting happened before or after the accident."

If I was a betting person, I'd give great odds on the offending gunshot being AFTER the crash. In my experience (25 years a paramedic), most folks with fatal gunshots to the head don't go driving very far.

True enough, but I've seen some pretty amazing things. My first shooting as a paramedic was a drug deal situation, four shot. I was triaging while my partner called for extra rescues. I had written one guy off as he was laying deathly till with a fist sized chunk of brain laying beside whis head. He had been shot TDC on the head. I asked if anyone knew who any of the victims were when someone said, That's Billy." pointing to the guy with a chunk of cerebrum on the sidewalk. He says, "Yeah?" I ask, "Billy can you hear me?" "Yeah" I asked his chief complaint, partially to assess his level of consciousness and he replied, "My head hurts."

Well, we had police and the engine company from my station so we scooped him up an hauled him in. He had various neurological signs showing cortical injury and the ER doc was not optimistic, expecting his brain stem to swell out of the foramem magnum. About a year and a half later I was transporting a child with seizures and had mom in the back with me, we were talking about how the neighborhood had changed and I mentioned this incident. "Oh, you mean Billy S." I said, "Yeah, I don't expect he made it." She then told me that he was still around, had a slight limp but hadn't learned anything as he was still involved with the drug dealing.

Another time, I rolled up on a one vehicle crash, pickup vs. utility pole. A large biker type was the driver and was shot center mass with what turned out to be a .45. He was conscious, oriented and talking though he was entering into early shock. Turned out he was shot through the right ventricle. He recovered.

Then again, I've seen a guy shot in the tight cheek with a .22 and was DRT.

[JeepGuy79]

He died from a .22 to the bum?

[Thomas]

He died from a .22 to the bum?

I guess if it was angled so that it hit his major artery going to his leg and bled out.