Some Teenagers Try To Solve Personal Problems With A Gun

The case of a 14-year-old girl convicted of shooting a boy who'd spurned her affections isn't all that bizarre.

OK, it's a little unusual to claim to be a vampire, as this girl did.

But juvenile authorities say it is not uncommon for teenagers to try to solve their problems with a gun.

Last year, there were 38 alleged assaults with weapons committed by teenagers in King County, and six homicides, according to the Department of Youth Services. There were also 68 robberies in which teens allegedly used a weapon.

"Many children are not able to deal with conflicts in their lives in better ways," according to Teresa Ravelle, spokesperson for the youth services department, which runs the detention center. "They don't know how to manage their anger. Nobody's ever taught them."

Kids often turn to guns, said Ravelle, because they're so readily available.

Take the 14-year-old, for example. The SeaTac girl, a student at Mount Rainier High School, was convicted of first-degree attempted murder in the Valentine's Day shooting of a 15-year-old classmate.

The girl had been upset that the boy, Jason Hood, had spit on her and thrown gravel at her. She told her friends she wanted to shoot him. He said he was trying to get her to stop staring at him all the time.

The day of the shooting, she took her father's 9mm handgun from his room. The gun was loaded, hanging in a holster underneath her father's bathrobe. The girl's father said he normally kept his bedroom door locked, but forgot on the afternoon of the shooting. The girl donned black gloves and went to Jason's house with two friends who didn't think she was serious. When Jason opened the door, she shot him in the abdomen.

The girl later told police anything she said to them would not be tape-recorded, because she was a vampire. The girl's father said she didn't mean it; she was just mouthing off. The girl could go to juvenile jail for 80 to 100 weeks, or until her 21st birthday, if the prosecutors decide to seek an exceptional sentence.

While the 14-year-old was a good student, friends said she had been unhappy and talked about suicide.

Sometimes, Ravelle said, violent youths have been involved in other crimes.

For example, there is Larry Terrar. He has a history of minor offenses, and at the time he allegedly shot two women in January, he was wanted by police in the alleged robbery and assault of another woman. Terrar, then 17, allegedly shot the Tillicum women after he accused them of stealing his drugs. Lavern Simpkins, 27, died at the scene. Claudia McCorvey was eight months pregnant when she was shot. Her baby died, and she was left paralyzed.

Terrar is scheduled to be tried as an adult. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 27 years in prison.

Two Kent boys convicted of killing a neighbor who'd looked at them the wrong way also were being questioned by police about a series of burglaries and break-ins in their neighborhood.

In November 1989, the boys, then 14 and 15, were walking in the woods when they saw Brett Toldstedt, 31, walking his dog. The boys threw rocks at Toldstedt, and when he failed to leave, they shot him.

They were found guilty of manslaughter. The younger boy, who is learning-disabled, was sentenced to three years in a juvenile correction facility, and the older boy to five years.

Both boys attended an alternative school, but had been suspended for cutting classes.