# I Took a Wild Guess about Why Some Psycho Fatally Shot an Eight Year Old Girl...AND I WAS RIGHT! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204 "2023-08-07T19:30:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/101 "2023-08-09T16:25:40Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > The dog next door has a lovely bark: he can bark all day and it doesn’t bother me. The ones across the street are higher pitched, and even short barking spurts are bothersome. Domestic cats are smarter than dogs 😺, they’ve learned to _talk_ to humans to get what they want. If you’ve owned more than one cat at a time (or should I say if you’ve been _owned_ by more than one cat at a time), you know that cats _talk_ to humans more than they talk to other cats. There’s a [reason](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7765146/) for that. We don’t train [cats](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/the-manipulative-meow-cats-learn-to-2009-07-13/), cats train [us](https://www.livescience.com/5556-cats-control-humans-study-finds.html). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/102 "2023-08-09T17:08:50Z")
If you don’t think dogs train their owners, you’ve never had a dog. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/103 "2023-08-09T17:19:46Z")
A timely release; apparently Nile crocodiles are better than we are at determining whether the cry of a human child indicates real distress. [https://www.science.org/content/article/crocodiles-alarmingly-attuned-cries-of-human-infants](https://www.science.org/content/article/crocodiles-alarmingly-attuned-cries-of-human-infants) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/104 "2023-08-09T17:27:26Z")
Siamese Cats do not talk. They screech, bitch, howl and gripey growl while eating. There are always outliers. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/105 "2023-08-09T17:36:50Z")
Oh damn. Now I’m very curious where you live because the exact same scenario (tractor accident - 48 hours) happened here a week or so ago. Oh, and my daughters like to share a story where I shut them into the bathroom at dinner time because they were being “too happy”. My children shrieking tolerance is very low. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/106 "2023-08-09T17:38:43Z")
I’m now kinda glad we got rid of _Mr. Snippy_, our pet Nile Croc, when my kids were babies. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/107 "2023-08-09T17:39:55Z")
🤣 > [@Tibby](#): > > I’m now kinda glad we got rid of _Mr. Snippy_, our pet Nile Croc, when my kids were babies. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/108 "2023-08-09T18:00:39Z")
Oddly, our Siamese is the _least_ vocal of our bunch. Our dwarf hybrid [Highlander](https://www.thesprucepets.com/highlander-cat-breed-profile-5496845) (a breed not usually vocal) is the noisiest, tiniest and baddest by far (the other cats give Olly a wide berth). Our domestic long-hair used to be the noisiest, but she recently died. RIP Pee Pee. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/109 "2023-08-09T18:03:49Z")
I wanna adjust my post, Bear the Siamese does talk some. It’s usually curse words. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/110 "2023-08-09T23:15:17Z")
I live in the suburbs, across the street from the neighborhood pool (not by choice – it was supposed to be down the street, but drainage issues meant the developer was forced to relocate the pool site). Summer is filled with all sorts of yelling and shrieking and laughing…it’s been this way for over 10 years, and I still can’t tell the difference between the ear-piercing _shriek_ of an overexcited child and the _shriek_ that accompanies a problem or injury. Just a few years ago, a girl cut her foot on some broken glass in the pool; I was outside when it happened, but had no idea anything was wrong because the noise didn’t sound any different from what I had become used to hearing. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/111 "2023-08-10T06:56:56Z")
My dog talks. It’s rarely verbal, mostly with body language, but she can talk pretty clearly once you figure out how to understand her. I even have arguments with her. She doesn’t use words and rarely understands any of my words, but I can read her body language and she understands my tone, so we can actually have a very limited conversation. It’s surreal but it’s pretty cool too. She’s a really smart dog. For example, she might spin in a circle, which tells me she is excited to get something. I’ll ask her, what do you want? She will look up at where a particular bag of treats are. I will tell her no, you don’t get one now. She will spin in a circle again, and look at it again. I’ll say, I told you no, you can’t have them every day. She runs over to me and sticks her head under my hand and then licks it. I tell her that I love her too, but sucking up to me won’t work. She hops onto the recliner, puts her head on the arm, looks at me with a “I am the saddest dog in the world” look, and then gives a loud huff (which is like her way of cursing at me). I tell her tough shit dog, you could have it a lot worse. She then turns her back to me to show me that she’s disappointed and wants nothing to do with me for a while. This was a real exchange from last week. It’s like having a teenage girl in the house who is tiny and covered in fur. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/112 "2023-08-10T07:18:05Z")
wow thats about the exchange I have with my cat several times daily …temptation cat treats are feline crack …Before I bought those she didn’t even like most treats… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/113 "2023-08-10T11:01:01Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Now I’m very curious where you live because the exact same scenario (tractor accident - 48 hours) happened here a week or so ago. Western Pennsylvania. Tractor accidents aren’t rare, I guess. Years ago an older guy I knew was brush hogging a field and fell off the tractor and got brush hogged. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/114 "2023-08-10T11:55:35Z")
Atlantic Canada here. And although we’re very rural this is the first fatality that I’ve heard about in years. Around here it’s mostly chain saws and things that require extensive stitches. This was a baler. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/115 "2023-08-10T13:14:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > My dog talks. Sure, dogs talk, just like cats, but the tones of their conversations differ: Dog: _woof…eat now, play now, smell stinky things now…woof!_ Cat: _meow…so, I’ve been developing plans to create a small device that I can attach to my collar that will monitor my master’s slave’s EEG waves, then send electro-magnetic impulses to his brain so that I can better control him. I’m tired of begging for my Meow Mix, dammit!..meow._ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/116 "2023-08-10T13:18:18Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Atlantic Canada here. > And although we’re very rural this is the first fatality that I’ve heard about in years. Around here it’s mostly chain saws and things that require extensive stitches. **This was a baler.** - Are you saying your casualties are…_neatly packaged?_ ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/117 "2023-08-10T13:24:39Z")
I would like to echo what another poster said upthread. Obviously, this situation doesn’t justify murder. But parents are playing a very risky game when they declare, **“My kid is going to behave obnoxiously, and we have no intention of making them stop. Deal with it.”** It leaves people only two alternatives: Either passively accept it, or resort to escalatory means - and the chances of the latter may be considerably higher than the parents figured. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/118 "2023-08-10T13:34:53Z")
> [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Atlantic Canada here…Around here it’s mostly chain saws and things that require extensive stitches. Happens [in Toronto](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/men-arrested-chainsaws-blood-canada-beach-coronavirus-protest-toronto-a9671426.html) as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/119 "2023-08-10T13:37:48Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > My dog talks. It’s rarely verbal, mostly with body language, but she can talk pretty clearly once you figure out how to understand her. I even have arguments with her. I generally know when my dog is ticked off/frustrated with me. He’ll shake off vigorously, the kind that starts at the head and closes out with tail vibrations. “No, you can’t investigate that pile of droppings.” (shake) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204/120 "2023-08-10T14:08:01Z")
I must say, child murder and talking animals make for a very surreal thread reading experience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-a-wild-guess-about-why-some-psycho-fatally-shot-an-eight-year-old-girl-and-i-was-right/988204.md?page=7)