Florida Teen Playing with “Bulletproof” Vest Dies After Being Shot by Friend

A Florida teen was killed after he and his friends played a deadly game of testing a “bulletproof” vest. According to FOX News, two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old boy were taking “turns shooting one another while wearing body armor….”

The incident occurred about 70 miles northwest of Orlando, in Belleview. The Belleview Police Department (BPD) reported they arrested Joshua Vining and Colton Whitler in connection with the shooting.

Reportedly, prosecutors have charged the two 17-year-olds (Vining with manslaughter of a child, and Whitler with false reporting) who will be tried as adults. Police identified the 16-year-old boy who was shot and died at the hospital as Christopher Leroy Broad.

Click Orlando reported that officers initially responded to a 911 call where Whitler stated, “my house just got shot up; my friend got shot in the chest.” Police located no evidence that version had occurred.

Police soon learned the truth, including that the boys allegedly took turns shooting at each other and that an 18-year-old friend, Evan Vowell, had “recorded the shooting on his cell phone…” and turned it over to the police.

Vowell said Vining showed the others “a 9mm gun and vest, asking if they ‘had ever seen anyone get shot with a bulletproof vest on….’” Describing the video, Click Orlando also reported Vining was wearing the vest when Broad shot him with no reported injury.

Then, “Vining shot Broad in the vest once, Broad nodded, and Vining shot Broad four more times…,” during which Broad allegedly suffered the fatal injury.

With all the extraneous politically motivated “subjects” some public schools want to teach these days, educators might consider teaching kids rudimentary gun safety. It doesn’t even have to involve hands-on exercises. Information is the key.

Course materials teach basic firearms safety rules in programs designed for kids such as the NRA’s Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program.

If these teens had learned earlier about the limitations of a “bulletproof vest’s” protection, they might not have tried such a reckless thing.

To the point, an article at Body Armor News lists “30 Things People Didn’t Know About Bulletproof Vests.” Number one: “They’re Not Actually Bulletproof.”

Join The Discussion

Related Posts
Total
21
Share