Posted on 06/19/2007 7:16:23 PM PDT by Pyro7480
GEORGETOWN, Ind. - A 15-year-old boy used a World War II-era sniper rifle to fatally shoot a deputy and critically wound another outside his southern Indiana home, authorities said Tuesday.
The teen, Tyler Dumstorf, had shot the deputies Monday evening and was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot early Tuesday inside the home about 13 miles outside Louisville, Ky., authorities said.
Prosecutor Keith Henderson said the boy's father bought the M1 Garand some time ago and that he and his son shot it during target practice. The gun is a showpiece, and possessing one is not illegal, the prosecutor said.
"The cause of yesterday's tragedy isn't the weapon. It's the person who fired it," he said.
The deputies had gone to the home to investigate a call from his mother about a confrontation with the teen. The teen had been due in court Tuesday on a misdemeanor marijuana charge, Henderson said, and that hearing was apparently part of the discussion with his mother.
"There was nothing to indicate to the officers that it was anything more than a routine domestic call," Henderson said.
As the officers were talking to his mother and an aunt in the driveway, the boy fired from an upstairs window, striking each deputy in the back, he said. White was able to return fire, but none of his shots hit Dumstorf, Henderson said.
Minutes later, Henderson said, the boy posted a message on his Web page that said: "I just killed two cops. Goodbye."
The teen was found early Tuesday after police unable to make contact with him sent a camera-equipped robot into the home.
The prosecutor said the deputies were "sitting ducks" and had no chance to protect themselves.
Deputy Frank Denzinger, a four-year veteran of the sheriff's department, died hours after the shooting, Floyd County Sheriff Darrell Mills said. Deputy Joel White, who has been with the department 17 months, was hospitalized Tuesday in serious condition, Mills said.
Sheriff's Lt. Frank Loop said the boy's mother was not injured.
Dumstorf had just completed his freshman year at Floyd Central High School in nearby Floyds Knobs, said school spokesman Dave Rarick. He gave no other information about the boy, citing federal privacy laws.
Entries on Dumstorf's MySpace page indicated he was an honors student and that he liked classic rock.
AP reporter apparently doesn't know basic WWII history. The M1 was the basic infantry weapon for the American military. It can be used as a sniper rifle, but it wasn't typically.
Prosecutor Keith Henderson said the boy's father bought the M1 Garand some time ago and that he and his son shot it during target practice. The gun is a showpiece, and possessing one is not illegal, the prosecutor said. "The cause of yesterday's tragedy isn't the weapon. It's the person who fired it," he said.
Smart guy that prosecutor. He's probably not a leftist.
All weapons are assault weapons.
All rifles are sniper rifles.
Most media types are idiots.
“The cause of yesterday’s tragedy isn’t the weapon. It’s the person who fired it,”
Bears repeating again and again.
Uh oh. There goes the Civillian Marksmenship Program.
An ordinary shooter would hit a man with an M1 at 300 yards. This was a cowardly act.
Not necessarily. It could be a newly-manufactured one, or a hand-me-down.
Oh yeah. Shooting them in the back is a definite indication of that.
Garand was the semiautomatic right? Wasn’t the Springfield the main sniper?
(Going on Call of Duty 3 here rather than any historical knowledge)
Yeah, but I can just see Schumer up there ranting about how the government sends these military style weapons in the mail to people. (regardless of where this one came from).
Yup.
I bet any money the kid had no father.
On the plus side, maybe this will lead to legislation banning "blinded by the light" and "taking care of business".
Some M-1D’s have been sold over the years,could it have been one of those?That is a real sniper rifle,a good one is astoundingly accurate.
I guess every kid with a nickel bag of pot is now a “sniper”.
Garand is a semiautomatic, but they did come in sniper version with scopes called the M1C and the M1D. The game probably has the M1903 Springfield as a sniper, since it was the standard sniper rifle until 1944, when the M1 sniper versions replaced it.
You lose.
L
The Sringfield was the wepaon of the old Brown shoe army. Bolt action; excellent weapon. Sargeant York used it to great effect in France. M1 was better. but heavy. 9 lbs.
“AP reporter apparently doesn’t know basic WWII history. The M1 was the basic infantry weapon for the American military. It can be used as a sniper rifle, but it wasn’t typically.”
Uh, the sniper part is due to the template. Sniper rifle, assault rifle, etc... fill in the blank journalism. Fill in the blanks, file the story, move on, and act surprised when people question your reporting.
Possibly, but on the "less dark side", they're darned near "sold out", anyway.
Remember a few years ago when some nut took an M-1 Garand onto the streets of NYC, fired one shot and killed someone.
The NY Times went berzerk calling for a ban on “semi-auto” assault rifles rifles.
The Garand is a pretty good rifle as well. Semi auto as you said with the added benefit of allowing one to refer to clips without fear of being corrected.
"Blinded by the Light" is just awful. Yuck.
ROATS?
Possibly.
There's also evidence suggesting he used an M1917.
(Going on Call of Duty 3 here rather than any historical knowledge)
You be correct, 1903 Springfield and other variants, bolt action, not the garand. They did have a scope model grand but it is a top loader and the scope had to be offset to side.
Reach Out And Touch Someone.
Ah. Never seen that acronym. :-)
Wasn’t the Springfield only 1 lb lighter?
“sniper rifles” are one of the new media classes of bad guns. The VPC is all over them. They started it with heavy barreled bolt actions, but they’ve backed off on that. Right now, a “sniper rifle” is a semi auto like a Bushmaster Varminter. This reporter has been bought and paid for. You can bet that the propaganda he gets from Brady, et al, made sure that he identifies any semi auot as a “sniper rifle.”
Springfield armory made both the 1903 bolt action rifles and millions of M1’s for use during WWII.
At less than 200 yards (and many more), the M1 could be considered a “sniper rifle”, or at least a very accurate weapon.
However, one point left out in this discussion: Pot head teen shoots law enforcement officials at short range.
Was it just the pot, or maybe zoloft or prozac or the other variations of drugs we are doping children with.
Add in the shoot ‘em up games on the computer or zombie box and is it any wonder these kids react to supposed threats?
Father and another arrested for drunkness at the house
There were M1C and M1D sniper versions of the Garand. They are highly collectible, worth thousands. It’s possible these people had one, but not likely that dad would let junior play with it at the range. There are also plenty of counterfeit M1C and M1D rifles floating around at gun shows, and I don’t know the details to spot the fakes, so be careful if you take an interest in them.
I think we used Springfield boltguns as sniper rifles. The Garand was, of course, just the standard infantryman’s rifle.
This page backs me up:
http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/1903A3.htm
“A sniping rifle version of the ‘03A3 was adopted as the “M1903A4” and put into production by Remington. The M1903A4 was the only sniper rifle to see significant service bv the U.S. Army in World War II, and it was used in virtually all theaters of the war. During World War II, the Marine Corps modified some of its rifle team M1903Als to sniper configuration by the addition of an 8X Unerti target-type telescope procured under special USMC contract. The USMC M1903AI/Unertl sniper rifle was the best U.S. sniper rifle of the war and saw quite of bit of use in the Pacific theater by Marine Scout/Snipers.”
That’s an Enfield, not a Springfield. When the US armory couldn’t supply the Army at the beginning of WW1, Enfield built this version, still chambered for the .30-06 round.
It’s an M1917, commonly called an Enfield. But Enfield didn’t make them. Nice rifle, I wish I still had mine.
Sgt. York used and Enfield, if I’m not mistaken. Springfield and Garands are still fine weapons.st
CMP used to be called DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship). When we shot the matches, we were actually issued free govt. surplus ammunition for the matches. They were complete bandoliers containing 8 rd. en bloc clips.
Pat Schroeder, Democrat from Colorado had it shut down because she thought it inappropriate to be arming citizens. I still use LC69 brass from those days.
M1 Garands were often configured as sniper rifles during the Korean War.
BAHAHAHA!
I did not say the grand was not accurate. I did say there wasn't many of the sniper ones made. Actually there are probably more today than were made during WWII.
Spring field did make some M1 grands but they were also made under license by a whole bunch of other firm. Such as general motors and singer, Remington, winchester. I have two of the 1903 spring fields made by Remington, Of course they are now very expensive custom built.
Re #3, you nailed it. When it comes to guns the elite leftist media are idiots. The M-1 Garand was standard issue to the GIs in WWII. Some guys used them as sniper rifle, those who could get their hands on a scope and mounty it on the gun. To this day it’s a fine weapon and I’m very glad I got through life without getting an M-1 thumb.
The .06 Enfields were made by Remington and Eddystone, I believe.
Re #3, you nailed it. When it comes to guns the elite leftist media are idiots. The M-1 Garand was standard issue to the GIs in WWII To this day it’s a fine weapon and I’m very glad I got through life without getting an M-1 thumb.
Negative on the games they always have to find an angle on video games. Fact is that the overall attitude and culture that is prevalent in the me first, victim mindset is the cause. Besides he is only 15 he should not be able to purchase most First person shooters.
Don’t buy into the nanny-state pathology about violent video games it’s parenting and personal responsiblity. Politicians have done a very good job at alienating the gaming community even though the ESRB rating system is far more comprehensive than any of the hollywood MSM rating systems they have cobbled together. One of the main things that alienates gamers is the “religous” right’s intrusion on their hobbies.
Also Call of Duty 4 looks magnificent so far, Q4 2007 I would highly suggest taking a peek. Looks to be competing with Unreal Tournament 3.
It’s a shame that the trash had to kill 2 men trying to do their job of protecting vermin like these from themselves. My heartfelt prayers go towards the family and friends of the officers killed.
I've got one of each.
"Eddystone" was a subsidiary of Remington; I'm not sure if Remington made any under their own name.
The design was derived from the Enfield P-14; longer write-up here.
Reported that both Deputies had on vest
I was just about to make the same remark.
Springfield bolt action rifles using 4 groove barrels and a Unertl scope were the sniper rifles issued to both the Marine Corps and Army. Unless I’m mistken they were also used during the Korean war until some wise acre rempved the single shot .50 barrel off a recoiless rifle and started shooting North Koreans at a mile or better.
But hey, if I’m wrong somebody out there will tell me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.