Brandon Bell, the 17-year-old who shot a Houston police officer Thursday, had been in jail just two weeks earlier, but authorities had released him, according to KPRC-TV.
In a subtle irony, Thursday’s shooting took place roughly three miles from the location of the third Democratic presidential primary debate, which featured threats to confiscate law-abiding citizens’ guns but no new policies for stopping criminals from obtaining guns illegally.
Just two weeks before the shooting, Bell and two other Houston teens were arrested for carjacking a woman handing out flyers.
On Sept. 2, Tina Kingshill was sitting in her unlocked car when someone opened her door and pointed a gun at her, KPRC reported.
According to Kingshill, the carjacker said, “Get out of the car. I got this gun and I will shoot you.”
She tried to get her purse but the man told her to leave.
“So I just got out of the car. I wasn’t going to mess around with him,” Kingshill said.
The carjacker took the vehicle, which was found several hours later.
In what must now be a teachable moment, Kingshill would later remark that she didn’t want Bell prosecuted.
“This child felt so desperate that he felt he had to do that. I would like to learn more about his situation and try to help him,” she said.
While Bell was charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing in a motor vehicle, Kingshill ultimately got her wish and he was not prosecuted.
But she had no idea how that lack of prosecution would change a police officer’s life two weeks later.
Out on a no-cost, personal bond, Bell and his accomplices went on a crime spree Thursday.
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First, they allegedly carjacked an SUV at gunpoint from a gas station — but were forced to abandon it when it ran out of gas, CNN reported.
After ditching the SUV, the group allegedly held up a priest, again at gunpoint.
In what must have been divine intervention, the priest’s prayer for protection was answered when the gun jammed as one of the men tried to shoot him.
While they left the priest alive, the men did beat him and stole his glasses and cell phone.
“I was looking at them and asking, ‘Why are you doing this? What have I done to you?'” the priest said.
“They said nothing. They kept beating me and looking for money. I was on the ground.”
Leaving the priest, the carjackers moved on to target a woman in a pickup truck.
The crime spree came to an end when police caught up with the suspects after they ditched the truck. During the ensuing struggle, an officer was shot before a colleague arrived and returned fire, killing Bell.
Had Bell not been released, the entire saga could have been prevented. Authorities knew about his criminal history. They knew he was dangerous and had used a firearm to commit a crime in the past.
Bell should have been in jail after using a gun criminally two weeks earlier, but he wasn’t. Instead, the Harris County District Attorney’s office accepted a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass in a motor vehicle, allowing Bell to get a personal bond at no cost, according to KPRC.
More laws that restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners are the last thing the country needs. Instead, what every community needs are elected officials — from mayors to prosecutors to sheriffs — who enforce the laws already on the books.
Bell had a court date set for two days before he shot the officer. He skipped it — and the consequences were enormous.
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