Teen Kills Parents With Gun, Media Blames Home-Schooling And Curfew
A 16-year-old boy in Frisco, Texas has been arrested for shooting and killing his parents and people are trying to blame the victims because they (gasp) set rules for him.
Early Monday morning police responded to a call of shots fired to find the teen and his older sister outside the home both visibly upset.
Their parents Ryan and Maria Callens were found dead inside the family home.
A rifle with a flashlight taped to it was found inside the home. It is unclear whether the gun belonged to the family, but sources say they don’t believe the rifle belonged to the Callens.
A police officer allegedly heard the suspect tell his sister that he “did it.”
The teen was arrested on the scene. Because of the suspect’s age, his name is not being released to the public. The teen has been charged with two counts of murder. He is currently detained and it has not been determined yet if he will be tried as a juvenile or an adult.
Thanks to a few teenagers who claim to be friends of the suspect, but were not so upset with the situation that they couldn’t talk to reporters, metaphorical fingers are pointing at the parents, the actual victims of this crime, as being responsible for what happened. According to these under aged attention seekers, the suspect was ‘sheltered’ and his parents punished him for breaking their rules. He wasn’t allowed to drink soda. His internet activity was monitored. He wasn’t allowed to watch rated R movies and PG-13 movies with violence were edited.
I was a bratty, dramatic teenager. So while I can understand how to teens, having household rules or a curfew that is earlier than your friends or not being allowed to see big blockbuster R rated movies can feel like the end of the world at that age. It’s not. Having parents that set limits and enforce them isn’t abusive or wrong, and it is most certainly not a understandable motive for murder.
Now that I am a parent, I totally get wanting to keep your children safe and be aware of what they are being exposed to. There is nothing wrong with setting a curfew, monitoring a teen’s internet use or media exposure and not allowing a teen to drink soda. It’s called being a caring and involved parent. To try and spin the Callens as overbearing monsters who somehow brought their deaths upon themselves makes me sick and completely ignores the issues I think should be the focus when talking about this tragedy.
It’s clear to me that the Callens were trying to be good parents. I find it beyond unfair and disrespectful of the deceased to suggest that they somehow caused their own demise by setting limits for their teenager. If there must be speculation as to motive, why are we not looking at the suspect himself, since teens don’t typically kill their parents over soda. Or maybe there is simply more to the story that isn’t being released and without the whole story, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
If we must lay blame somewhere, let’s look at the actual smoking gun in the situation- that despite his parents’ hard work and dedication to keeping him safe, somehow this teen suspect still had access to a rifle. He knew where to find it, how to arm it, and sadly, how to use it. To me, that’s the real story here.
