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Here is some fuel for the anti gunners.


Teens accused of shooting 100 cats | The Columbian

By Laura McVicker
Columbian Staff Reporter

Originally published June 6, 2011 at 1:07 p.m., updated June 6, 2011 at 7:29 p.m.

Armed with a .22-caliber rifle, three teenagers are accused of shooting cats — at least 100 — while joyriding throughout northern Clark County over the past two months, prosecutors said.

Mitchell S. Kangas, 16, Jaren M. Koistinen, 16, and Riley J. Munger, 17, were arrested Sunday evening after a Battle Ground resident reported to police that her 7-year-old cat, Nellie, was shot in the face at 7:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Northeast Third Avenue in Battle Ground. She saw the shooters and described their blue SUV.

Minutes later, Battle Ground police were able to trace the vehicle description to a blue Ford Explorer speeding through a stop sign about three blocks away, according to court documents.

The teens were taken into custody after a police officer found several .22-caliber shell casings inside the SUV. Several hundred rounds of ammunition were also found, according to Battle Ground police.

When questioned, Kangas allegedly admitted to shooting 10 cats that evening and at least 50 cats, two dogs and a deer over the past two months. The other two teens are believed to have helped track down animals to shoot, according to court documents.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield said the number of animals believed to be harmed could be even greater as the investigation unfolds. She told Clark County Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett at the teens’ Monday morning first appearance that there are at least 100 victimized cats and possibly as many as 200.

It’s not yet known whether the three will be named as suspects in the shootings of two dogs in the La Center area in March and May. Citing court rules and the ongoing investigation, Banfield said in an interview that she couldn’t comment on the total number of animal fatalities or a possible link to the dog cases.

The judge set the teenagers’ bail at $25,000 each and scheduled arraignments for Friday. The defendants, who are being held on suspicion of felony drive-by shooting, were remanded to adult court, as is standard for 16- and 17-year-olds awaiting charges of violent offenses.

Banfield said the three are also being considered for charges of animal cruelty, possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle and unlawful discharge of a firearm. She expects to file charges within the next two days.

Court papers show that Koistinen and Kangas are sophomores at Battle Ground High School and Munger is a junior at La Center High School. The three live at home with their parents. None of them has a criminal record.

Second shooting

Tina, the mother of the 19-year-old who notified police after spotting the suspects’ SUV, said Monday afternoon that Nellie’s shooting was the second at their home in two months.

The evening of the first shooting, on Mother’s Day, she said she walked outside and found fur all along the driveway, but couldn’t find her 2-year-old cat, Lucy.

After searching the front yard, “she was underneath the car, bleeding,” said Tina, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of retaliation by the suspects.

At first, Tina said, “I assumed it was an animal attack.”

Tina took Lucy to a veterinarian, who discovered a bullet embedded in the cat’s fur, close to her back legs.

Lucy has been unable to walk since the ordeal, Tina said, but is expected to make an eventual recovery.

Sunday’s shooting came at about the same time of day, Tina said. She was sitting on her couch when, suddenly, “I heard the shot. It echoed through my backyard,” she said.

Her daughter, Samantha, rushed out the front door, catching a glimpse of the pickup. She started calling Nellie’s name, and then ran to the backyard, hoping to find the cat there. She did.

“She came running toward me with blood pouring from her nose and mouth,” Samantha said.

Samantha rushed Nellie to a vet. Thankfully, the vet told her the cat would survive, though she would have trouble eating and drinking for at least a few days.

Meanwhile, Battle Ground police Officer Brian Archer responded and spotted a Ford Explorer speeding through a nearby stop sign in the 400 block of Onsdorff Boulevard. After stopping the SUV, he asked the three teens inside to step outside the vehicle.

“Upon exiting the vehicle, I observed several .22-caliber casings fall out of the vehicle,” Archer wrote in a probable cause affidavit filed with the court. He then detained the teens.

While both wounded cats survived, Tina said her family has been shaken by shootings. She wants to send a message to the perpetrators.

“I want to forgive them for what they’ve done,” Tina said. “But I also want justice to be served.”
 
These are the kinds of kids whose demonstrated lack of good sense with firearms and compassion towards animals eventually turn out to be slime ball d-bags chancres of society. I hope they are prosecuted to the max.
 
hmm... pretty cut and dry, if you ask me. they shot a bleepload of people's beloved pets, period. assuming the right suspects have been apprehended, which im sure they have.

so what do we do with high school sophomores and juniors who get caught sniping hundreds of peoples' pets? that's pretty fricken serious. animals lives are NOT more sacred than human liberty... but at the very least, peoples' property has been destroyed, and a lot of it.

whats an appropriate sentence?
 
I think it's interesting that they are being charged like this

The defendants, who are being held on suspicion of felony drive-by shooting, were remanded to adult court, as is standard for 16- and 17-year-olds awaiting charges of violent offenses.

But this seems to fit better

Banfield said the three are also being considered for charges of animal cruelty, possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle and unlawful discharge of a firearm. She expects to file charges within the next two days.

wouldn't bother me to see some midevil punishment either way
 
I'm having a vision of three kids hog-tied, soaked in tuna juice, and locked in a kennel with the exact number of cats they killed....and I'm laughing hysterically inside.
 
Line these boys up, stone them within an inch of their life, nurse them back to health, do it all over again, and then lock them up for 20 years. I have no sympathy for people that are cruel to animals...especially people that kill pets.
 
hmm... pretty cut and dry, if you ask me. they shot a bleepload of people's beloved pets, period. assuming the right suspects have been apprehended, which im sure they have.

so what do we do with high school sophomores and juniors who get caught sniping hundreds of peoples' pets? that's pretty fricken serious. animals lives are NOT more sacred than human liberty... but at the very least, peoples' property has been destroyed, and a lot of it.

whats an appropriate sentence?

Felonies, 1-2 years incarceration.
 
dont get all way overly emo on this, people. YOU put the extra value in animals as pets, but that doesn't mean they have any. while outrageous for being peoples' beloved pets, they're still just property, no different than if these kids went around sniping people's yard gnomes- except significantly more expensive.

they should be charged with as many counts of destruction of property and discharging of a firearm in an unlawful place as they committed, but stacking a bunch of invented crimes (like animal cruelty and 3 charges for one deed) is simply an emotional over reaction.
 
dont get all way overly emo on this, people. YOU put the extra value in animals as pets, but that doesn't mean they have any. while outrageous for being peoples' beloved pets, they're still just property, no different than if these kids went around sniping people's yard gnomes- except significantly more expensive.

they should be charged with as many counts of destruction of property and discharging of a firearm in an unlawful place as they committed, but stacking a bunch of invented crimes (like animal cruelty and 3 charges for one deed) is simply an emotional over reaction.
Animal cruelty is not a made up crime. It is an actual crime. You are mistaking the fact that animals are property as far as damages are concerned for it being legal to abuse them. Oh, and shut the **** up and consider your words a bit more carefully if you are going to go around and act like killing a persons dog is the same as breaking a yard ornament...because you and I will have serious issues.
 
Animal cruelty is not a made up crime. It is an actual crime. You are mistaking the fact that animals are property as far as damages are concerned for it being legal to abuse them. Oh, and shut the **** up if you are going to go around and act like killing a persons dog is the same as breaking a yard ornament...because you and I will have serious issues.

Then we have some serious issues.
 
Animal cruelty is not a made up crime. It is an actual crime. You are mistaking the fact that animals are property as far as damages are concerned for it being legal to abuse them. Oh, and shut the **** up if you are going to go around and act like killing a persons dog is the same as breaking a yard ornament...because you and I will have serious issues.

lets have some "issues," then- 'cause it IS the same thing. we get more angry when somebody shoots our dog, because we like our dog more than our yard ornament. but it's not the perpetrator's fault you like one piece of property more than another. the perpetrator shouldn't more guilty for one than the other- that's ridiculous.

if you shot my yard ornament, i'd be pretty pissed. if you shot my dog, you'd be lucky if there was anything left to arrest when the cops got there- but i would NOT expect you to spend a day longer in jail for discharging a gun in the direction of my house and shooting my dog than discharging a gun in the direction of my house and and shooting my flamingo.
 
These are the kind of humans that end up being brutal killers later in life they start doing this and end up murders I say lock them away for life now no pussy footing around it was premeditated and no mercy spared to the animals lock em away and throw away the key
 
These are the kind of humans that end up being brutal killers later in life they start doing this and end up murders I say lock them away for life now no pussy footing around it was premeditated and no mercy spared to the animals lock em away and throw away the key

Another ridiculous, overly emotional response.
 
How long before the thrill of poaching deer and shooting pets wore off and these upstanding citizens would begin to pick off a homeless vagrant here and there or an early morning jogger? Just a thought...

Keith
 
dont get all way overly emo on this, people. YOU put the extra value in animals as pets, but that doesn't mean they have any. while outrageous for being peoples' beloved pets, they're still just property, no different than if these kids went around sniping people's yard gnomes- except significantly more expensive.

they should be charged with as many counts of destruction of property and discharging of a firearm in an unlawful place as they committed, but stacking a bunch of invented crimes (like animal cruelty and 3 charges for one deed) is simply an emotional over reaction.

You are a sick sick human no one likes your kind go crawl back under the rock you came from (the same as a garden gnome)
 

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