I hope the kid is taken to trial. Its only a matter of time before he kills again. At least for mental evaluation.
If someone kills my entire family, and then I kill that person, i would be traumatized. AFTER KILLING SOMEONE YOU SHOULD BE TRAUMATIZED MOT SMILING. THAT IS NOT NORMAL PEOPLE BEHAVIOR?!
I don't know, Strity.
Firstly darlin, the intruder isn't dead - just injured - although I'll bet it hurts like hell.
I kind of agree though, on the kid should be traumatized. I'm conflicted on whether this is a good thing or bad thing - PTSD hits people for all sorts of reasons as most of us understand, my concern is that he's such a tender age to have used a gun to maim someone (despite that I agree he had the right to protect himself - and he gave the intruder plenty of warnings) I'm more worried about this kid suffering mental health ramifications in the long run over this.
I find the smiling and what not, an odd response - because I expect him to be traumatized - not a kid reared to be a lunatic gun nut. However - everyone responds very differently after a major event like this.
Some cry, some laugh, some say supposedly inappropriate things, some show no reaction at all. It doesn't make them automatically a worrying problem. But.
On the chance this kid is genuinely excited and proud to have shot another human being - then yes, that is worrying in my opinion.
I would hope, irrespective of how this kid genuinely currently feels about this, that he is getting professional mental health support to assist him in working through this so that it doesn't come back one day and bite him in the ass in the form of trauma or PTSD.
Don't forget, immediately after such a major event happening, this kid would have experienced a tremendous dose of adrenalin from his brain. Combine that with the cultural ideology of 'protecting your home from an intruder' that is very popular in America and this could well have made him giddy, silly, unbelievably relieved that he survived, pride, excitement, and he probably felt that due to those cultural reasons, he would no doubt get, a pat on the back from a lot of people for shooting a filthy thief, for protecting his home, for being brave and courageous.
Now imagine all of that running through his head simultaneously, whilst his heart is literally pounding, his little legs are like jelly, his lungs gasping for air - and add that he's 11. With an eleven year old's maturity and wisdom and understanding of the world and consequences.
What a freaking rollercoaster for the little dude.
I'm still unsure on it all, however, I do think wholeheartedly that his response, while odd in some respects, can't be used to judge him at this point. Give it 6-12 months and see how he feels about it all then, for a more accurate read on this kid.