Cops: Teen escapes as Fla. dad kills family, self

[Archae]

Source: MSNBC.com

LAKELAND, Fla. - A 13-year-old boy ran through a garage to escape his family's slaughter at the hands of his father, who then took his own life on their front lawn, authorities said.

Investigators said Monday they had not found any suicide note, and a motive for the killings late Sunday remained unclear. They said Troy Ryan Bellar, 34, shot and killed his wife, Wendy Bellar, 31, and their 5-month-old and 8-year-old sons before killing himself outside their home in Lakeland, located between Tampa and Orlando.

Another son, 13-year-old Nathan Bellar, was pursued through the garage by his father, evaded several gunshots, and made it safely to a neighbor's house. The boy was being placed with family members.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30555915/

---

Another of those "You're MINE, and no one else can have you either!" assholes.

[onehandle]

1. Quick! Somebody defend gun rights! nt

[ZombieHorde]

3. If he didn't have that gun someone could have broken into their house and killed them all. nt

[SemperEadem]

13. it's a shame that the person the family needed to be protected against

didn't even have to break into the home to do damage.

[depakid]

47. Making this yet another case demostrating what the studies show clearly

Having a gun in the household greatly increases the chances that thet person and a person's household member will be involved in a tragedy or become a victim of violent crime.

Trouble is- so many Americans live with such a degree fear- or are otherwise obsessed, that they're unable to engage in rational risk assessment.

[Pavulon]

51. This is a "dingo ate my baby" topic

filled with hysteria and ignorance. If memory serves you are in NSW. I liken the position to tail chasing by a dog. Harmless waste of energy until it starts knocking over the furniture (passing laws that cost a majority position). So as long as the party continues to ignore this idiocy we may actually have chance to fix root cause. Mental Illness. 50% of deaths are suicides.

[proud2BlibKansan]

64. Yes being killed by your own father is so much better

:sarcasm:

[bertman]

4. He would've probably gotten all of them if he'd used a knife. No "warning" shots.

Yes, it's sick, but it's true.

A baseball bat would have worked well too. Or a cast-iron skillet. Or a fireplace poker. Or any number of other objects found in the average house.

[TheWraith]

6. Statistically speaking, an axe would be next most likely.

Poison is more common in murder-suicides than in other types of crimes as well.

[cliffordu]

12. He could have taken a hint from those fellas over in Africa and used Machetes.

Fast and efficient, those machetes.

Specially at close range.

[d_b]

5. if only the 8 year old had a snub-nose .38

if only...

[-..__...]

9. No need to...

the SCOTUS has already cleared that one up, and quite properly and nicely I might add.

Thanks for taking the time to voice and share your childish frustration with us anyways.

[Paladin]

38. Then Why Don't You Gun Militants Shut The Hell Up? (n/t)

[RedCloud]

62. I think they are mocking. At least I hope so.

Sick world out there.

[cliffordu]

10. Fine. Here I am defending gun rights.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

17. LOVE MY GUN, HATE MY FAMILY, LOST MY JOB

INSANITY ALL AROUND

[onehandle]

18. No, no, no. Let me help you with that...

how I love my gun

hate my family lost job

insanity all

____


Now that's a haiku.

[WriteDown]

24. Not a bad haiku, but inaccurate...

Investigators say Troy Bellar ran a home remodeling and handyman business. His wife was a stay-at-home mom.

Lane said Troy Bellar's business seemed to keep going despite the economic downturn.

"He said the remodeling had dropped off, but he was doing repair work for commercial apartments and that sort of thing," Lane said. "He said that he was staying busy."

[onehandle]

31. Yeah, I noticed that. I was just addressing the near haiku posted.

But if it will make you happier...
__________

how I love my gun

hate my family lost work

insanity all

[WriteDown]

32. Awesome.

:)

[WriteDown]

23. Does anyone even read the articles anymore?

Investigators say Troy Bellar ran a home remodeling and handyman business. His wife was a stay-at-home mom.

Lane said Troy Bellar's business seemed to keep going despite the economic downturn.

"He said the remodeling had dropped off, but he was doing repair work for commercial apartments and that sort of thing," Lane said. "He said that he was staying busy."

[AlphaCentauri]

57. most likely his mind was set in war mode

like many other for the last 9 years

[AlbertCat]

20. ....

[benEzra]

33. One post, and the fucking vultures are already out.

Quick! Somebody defend gun rights! nt

One post, and the fucking vultures are already out.

The victims:

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=LL&Date=20090504&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=905049946&Ref=V2&Profile=1410

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=LL&Date=20090504&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=905049946&Ref=V3&Profile=1410

God forbid we should mourn them, instead of using them to bash those we hate... :sarcasm:

[npk]

61. Unfortunate isn't it.

The lack of empathy on this site for a murdered family is very disheartening. But I have learned it is best to ignore those posts. There are far more good posters on this site than bad. You just have to weed through the bad ones. ;(

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

39. Quick someone attempt to capitalize on a tragedy to try and score political points.

[Pavulon]

40. I support the right to dumbshittery...

especially on the internet. I believe the universe would come to a halt if ignorant jackass commentary was to stop.

The day that happens, god (or whatever) have mercy on us all.

[sharp_stick]

2. What is it with these assholes

I can't figure out why somebody would think himself so important that he has to take out his entire family before blowing his own head off.

We need to get the news out to nutjobs like this that the world will be just fine if he does himself in but doesn't kill the babies.

[TheWraith]

7. They believe they're saving their families.

Usually the case is that the family is in dire financial straits, and to the unbalanced mind death seems preferable to financial destitution.

[Flagg]

8. Guns make killing (oneself included) that much easier

That's why gun sprees > knife sprees by like a gazillion percent.
Surely gun nuts are aware of that...

[Scout]

11. no they aren't .... there's usually one of them that says something like

"so you'd be be happy if he killed them with a knife instead of a gun?"

they think that the average asshole who kills with a gun would be able to do the same amount of damage with a knife, or a baseball bat, or a car, and that if they couldn't find a gun they'd just make one!

[Pavulon]

41. The japanese use laundry detergent..

one day you people will actually look at root cause for this stuff. Until then you are chasing your tails. Which is fine , even entertaining, until you start fucking up good furniture in the process (push stupid laws that do nothing useful but cost political power that can be used for real good).

[adamuu]

14. i'm glad that one kid made it out alive

I hope he gets the support he will surely need.

[uppityperson]

27. I agree with that. Best reply on the topic. Thank you. eom

[Dappleganger]

15. Since none of you are doing it, I'll be the one to rant about lack of mental healthcare

lack of jobs and the bad economy.

What a POS father he turned out to be. My prayers are with the son who is left to live with this nightmare. This economy is really pressing the evil into real-life situations.

[AlbertCat]

22. lack of jobs and the bad economy.

Quoting the article:

"Troy Bellar's business seemed to keep going despite the economic downturn."

So that takes care of 2 of your motives. As for mental health....perhaps some sort of screening or waiting period might have turned up something. Anyway...it was a gun-nut with a gun....already loaded and ready for bear it would appear.

Next.....

[ejpoeta]

16. wtf!! how many of these is that now!! thank god the one kid got away,but

imagine what his life is going to be like now! wtf is wrong with people!! if you really want to kill yourself, then why must you insist on taking your family with you.

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. I think you almost answered your own question

.
.
.

thank god the one kid got away,but

imagine what his life is going to be like now!

maybe the disturbed parent thought the same way,

save their kids from the miserable life that may follow?

People that shoot themselves, and/or their families have almost ALWAYS reached out beforehand to their friends, doctors, etc., - but most miss the signals, or just ignore them

We are seeing an increasing amount of these kinds of murder/suicides -

what are we doing about it?

nada

[AlbertCat]

25. Read the article

The wife was trying to escape with the kids after an argument.

I think he was just mad and had a handy loaded rifle. The usual scenario. Most murder/suicides are family y'know. But of course the 2nd amendment says...

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, oh and so you can murder the bitch and brats, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Even when it's ridiculous.

Isn't that how it goes?

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ejpoeta]

37. well, as a person who has had depression for years, i have to say

that society doesn't like mental health, i don't think. they want to think that it is just a matter of trying harder. i had a psychoshrink (which i my term for the guy) tell me that if i act happy i'll be happy. so he was telling me i just wasn't trying hard enough. i am not sure how long after that i rode my bike for 4 or 5 hours to my brothers house trying to escape my depression. i was engaging in self destructive behavior, i guess. and i figured no one would notice me and such. i was despondent. i had tried to kill myself, but chickened out. my sister saw a notebook i had where i had written a lot of bad stuff. i still ahve that notebook. she talked me into going to the hospital where i stayed for a week and a half. I was in a very bad place. i had given away everything that ever meant anything to me. I had cut off contact with my family. Instead of helping me before it got to the point where I was on the edge of killing myself, and i believe i would have had my sister not stepped in, they treated me like i was just not trying hard enough. I know this isn't the same thing. I would never hurt another person. but i can understand that hopelessness.

[hollowdweller]

42. Great Post

Glad you are still with us!

[YDogg]

19. This is horribly sad.

[dugaresa]

26. from the article it sounds like there may have been problems

with regard to their marriage.

She had been arrested in March on a domestic battery issue??? He had arrests dating before 2000 regarding assault and DUI. I am sure that more information will come out, it is just sad that what ever was going on got so far out of control.

[sallylou666]

28. Let's call it what it is

"problems regarding their marriage" = assault, battery and ultimately murder

Please spare me the polite euphemisms. Failure to recognize and confront family violence allows it to continue unabated.

[MountainLaurel]

35. Thank you Sally Lou

For stating so eloquently what I was thinking. And welcome to DU!

:hi:

[hollowdweller]

43. Seems to me

that sort of a scenario and gunpowder don't mix. Seems like without banning any guns that it might be a good idea for people with any history of violent behaviour to have to prove they are not a risk before being allowed to buy a gun.

[get the red out]

29. Just a man disposing of his property by GAWD

as he sees fit. :sarcasm:

[scrinmaster]

30. This guy lived next door to one of my friends.

My friend's got a bullet hole in the side of his house. We used to play paintball and stuff in the woods behind the neighborhood.

[marshall]

34. What is wrong with those people in Florida?

Didn't a father kill his entire family except for one fast footed son just a few months ago in Florida?

And didn't they also turn it into a CSI Miami episode?

[benEzra]

36. If a New Yorker had done this, would you generalize about "all those people in New York"?

Oh, wait...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-towsonhotel,0,881299.storygallery

and

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/03/binghamton-new-york-shooting

and

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/nov/27/usa.julianborger

Why is it that it's OK to make ridiculous generalizations about southern states, when such generalizations would be rightly perceived as offensive when made about people in northeastern or midwestern states?

This former Florida resident is curious. And it's not just you, and not just DU; I've noticed it a lot in the MSM as well.

[Snazzy]

44. well I did 6 years in Florida

and it's fuckin' wacky.

Just saying.

[benEzra]

53. Parts of it. Just like parts of Massachusetts, as my wife can vouch (from Cambridge).

Or parts of New York, or parts of California, or parts of Maine, or parts of North Carolina. Believe me, I know about some of the wacky elements of Florida. I also know about the good side.

The thing is, in any region/ethnic group/religion/affiliation, you can find good apples and bad apples. But generalizing the negatives from a part to the whole is wrong, and distorts reality to suit one's own prejudices.

[Snazzy]

58. Oh your point is understood

and valid even.

Except we've always got the 2000 election as a proof of concept of Florida wackiness. Toss in some Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen for further confirming evidence. A basis in reality to their niche isn't there? (And yep, this has nothing to do with OP. People are killing their families all over the place it seems and that's not the least bit funny).

[benEzra]

60. Oh, I agree that there are wacky elements in Florida...

just that the same aspects can be found in every state.

I lived in Escambia County for a while, which had the dubious distinction of at one time having most of its County Commission under Federal investigation for fraud and kickbacks. Dave Barry (also a Floridian) once said that that there are three kinds of politicians---criminals, incompetent, and incompetent criminals---and the Escambia County Commission seemed to fall into the latter category. We lived in Pensacola for a while, and it was both a progressive university town (University of West Florida, where I did some graduate work, and a bit of a GLBT mecca) and the home of fundies who would stand on street corners in polyester suits and yell at you at stop lights.

But the thing is, you can find exactly the same elements in Massachusetts. As I said, my wife is from Cambridge, and she can tell stories about the crime, the racism, the Irish Mafia, and the governmental incompetence. You can find it here in NC, you can find it in California, and you can find it in Illinois (*coughBlagojevichcough*).

Idiocy is not a regional characteristic; it is a characteristic that unfortunately occurs across all geographic, social, and even political lines.

[demo dutch]

55. I'm still doing "time" in FL, & I agree it's a wacky place

[marshall]

45. If it had happened twice in NY AND been turned into an episode of CSI:NY, yeah, probably

Maybe it's what the media is choosing to report and what television is choosing to turn into its fodder for crime dramas. TPTB in the industry are north of the Mason Dixon line--maybe it makes them feel safer to posit that all this craziness happens down south.

[benEzra]

54. Yup. Ever notice how many TV religious-zealot villains

have southern accents? It's a stereotype. To a lot of people in the entertainment industry, southerners appear to be an "other" social/ethnic group that can be safely demonized.

[Snazzy]

59. New Yorkers were universally despised in the Keys

At least the ones who fit the stereotype. On vacation yet arguing constantly, no clue of the value of most things, including their own money. Can't slow down or shut up. Till just about before they leave town, finally relax on the day leaving town--and those were the best cases.

Yep, stereotype. But often true, and said as a New Yorker. Only worse tourists were the Germans, ha. I suppose that's not Hollywood like you say, but that attitude is out there and very easy to latch onto.

[firedupdem]

46. Horrible. What a shame. n/t

[pipoman]

49. What a completely fucking sickening thread this is

would you listen to yourselves. Jesus people, from the very first post........

[ima_sinnic]

50. just another "well-regulated militia" with a gun

what's the problem? :sarcasm:

[Blandocyte]

52. Fewer guns, more social workers

would be a good start

[WhiteTara]

56. sounds more like money trouble

not I'm leaving you.

[The Stranger]

63. Somehow rooting for one against the other in these types of tragedies seems pointless.

The whole situation is catastrophically fucked up. I don't know if someone who is suicidal-homicidal really qualifies as being an "asshole." There just somehow seems to be something more and more tragic to the whole thing. I don't know.