I am often floored by the stupidity of youth. Do not get me wrong. By no means was I not afflicted by this same genetic predisposition of attempted stupicide (killing yourself because your hormonal imbalances cause you to do suicidally dumb things). However, my attempts were within the range of what I would consider normal for a young man — especially a young man who was a paratrooper.
For example, rappelling out of the third floor of the barracks was probably not my brightest moment. I can also remember being strictly forbidden to go into certain parts of the country of Panama due to their hatred toward Americans. This, of course, mandated that my friends and I would drive through that part of the country while screaming out the windows that we were Americans. No, I freely admit to my own stupidity and sometimes wonder at my survival during those years.
However, one of the things that no one ever had to instruct me on was to not have someone shoot a book that I was holding up to my chest. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Pedro Ruiz. He was a young man who wanted to make a name for himself.
[lz_ndn video=32602510]
He and his girlfriend, Monalisa Perez, were wannabe YouTube stars. They would film themselves doing pranks and were trying to get more subscribers to their channel. Their solution was to come up with more and more outlandish events to film. Claudia Ruiz, Pedro’s aunt, was told about the stunt in advance. When she inquired why they would want to use a gun, he stated, “Because we want more viewers; we want to get, you know, famous.”
Prior to the incident, Ruiz showed his girlfriend a book he had shot with a gun, which stopped the bullet. This, in turn, grew into an idea of having her shoot a book while he held it. She reportedly said no at first but was eventually talked into it. Prior to actually attempting the stunt, Perez tweeted, “Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever. HIS idea not MINE.”
The night of the shooting, Ruiz set up two cameras in order to make sure that the event was properly captured. He then had Perez take a .50 caliber Desert Eagle and shoot the book he was holding at chest height. To put this in perspective, one of the main purposes of this gun is as a self-defense weapon against bears. The round easily penetrated the book and went directly into Ruiz.
Perez immediately called for help, but despite the efforts of the paramedics, Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene. Perez, who already has one child with Ruiz and is pregnant with their second, is now facing manslaughter charges and could spend the next 10 years in prison for her part in this stunt.
I am not in any way making light of this situation. Due to the consequences of their actions, two children will now grow up never knowing their father. There is nothing humorous in this travesty. Further, the life of Monalisa is now ruined. Even if she doesn’t serve any time in prison, she will have to live with the result of her action for the rest of her life. She will need to have the conversation with her children about how she killed their father.
What strikes me about this is how the need to be famous overshadowed the clear and obvious danger of this so-called “stunt.” I am constantly shocked as to what the youth of today find entertaining. I will occasionally watch YouTube videos with my son, and many of the pranks that these teenagers perform border — and occasionally cross — the line of legality.
Related: Social Media Zaps Our Empathy
I remember once watching a video in which two teenagers were pranking individuals by pretending to defecate on the individuals’ cars. One would pretend to do the action while the other hid and filmed the encounter. In one case, a man came out and was visibly upset. He pulled out his taser and shot the kid with it. His friend comes running out screaming that it was just a prank. That could have easily been a gun instead of a taser.
In a separate video, a man walked around the city making derogative racial statements. He would pass a Hispanic person and say something along the lines of, “Look at that stick.” I am sure you can see what the Hispanic person heard. In each case, the Hispanic man would become violently angry and attempt to engage the kid. At this point, the jokester would point out the camera and explain what he really said. Sometimes the person would laugh. Other times the young man would get chased away. How easy would it have been for someone to pull out a gun or knife?
Related: Social Media Is Not Your Friend
At some point, our society needs to get back to instilling values in our youth. This is not to say that there are not parents out there who do so. However, there was a time when the community at large would not accept such behavior. (go to page 2 to continue reading) [lz_pagination]
Join the Discussion
Comments are currently closed.