Saturday, June 04, 2011

Follow Instructions...

...or risk getting shot.
The boy and three others left their rooms after curfew Wednesday night and went to another section of the hotel to visit some friends, according to Marisel Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), which investigates crime in Costa Rica.

Around 4 a.m. on Thursday, the boys attempted to go back to their rooms, cutting across a wooded area of the hotel grounds, she said.

The security guard saw them, apparently mistook them for robbers and fired his weapon, said Rodriguez.

The 16-year-old was shot in the chest and died. He was identified by the McLouth, Kansas, school district as Justin Johnston.

Johnston was on a nine-day trip in Costa Rica with this school's Spanish club when he was killed, the school district said. No other students were injured.
Is it so hard to stay in your hotel room?

3 comments:

  1. scott mccall12:10 AM

    well the guard is at fault as well....he shouldnt have fired immediately. he works at a hotel, he should have figured the possibility of guests walking around after curfew.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I guess they take robbery pretty seriously in Costa Rica. I am sorry for that child's whole family and can't help but think that these teens had NO clue how different the "rules" were in other places. I know when my son went to China on an orchestra trip they were VERY SERIOUS about the rules and emphasized that they are going to a foreign country and if you break the law there, no one can save you. :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am sorry for this kid and his family, but as with the girl murdered on Aruba. First, I cannot think why any rational parent would send a kid under 18 to another country. Second, I cannot understand why kids don't get that rules are put in place for a reason and that reason is sometimes safety. Crazily enough, other countries have totally different laws. Many have laws where you are guilty until proven innocent. In an incident a couple of years ago, two girls from a local school snuck out and met up with some guys who lived in LA. They took photos. They put them on their facebook pages. And their parents were upset with the sponsor even though she had the police looking for them. Until parents get their heads in the game, teachers won't be able to get any traction.

    ReplyDelete