Boy shot dead playing trick-or-treat on Halloween

NEWS.com.au
November 01, 2008 07:52pm
Family shot at while playing trick-or-treat , Gunman shot from inside a house they visited
12-year-old boy killed, father and brother wounded a 12-year-old boy has been shot dead while playing trick-or-treat on Halloween night.
His family had decided to stop at some houses on the way home from a city event in Sumter, South Carolina. As the boy's father approached a house with his four children, their mother waited in the car. When they reached the door, they heard what they thought were fireworks. The boy, his father, and his brother were hit by gunfire from inside the house. The boy died at the hospital, while his father and brother were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Shooting suspect Quentin Patrick, 22, has been charged with murder and three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill. Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said there were other people inside the house but they are not expected to be charged.
Neighbours ignored the commotion, thinking it was a Halloween prank. "I thought, trick-or-treat night - pranks go down. Anything goes," said Lenwood Dixon, 49. "I heard a noise like maybe gunfire, then my daughter saw a bunch of lights flashing and saw some cops." In his six years in the neighbourhood, Mr Dixon said he wasn't aware of any violent crimes. He said a few trick-or-treaters had been on his block that night. "I'm surprised. Since I was here, I'd never heard of anything like that happening," he said. "It's a quiet neighbourhood.''