Teen Suspects in Interstate Shootings in Custody

I just saw that they have two teen suspects in custody after two people a href=”http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/28/interstate.shootings.ap/?imw=Yiref=mpstoryemail”were shot on Interstate 64 in Virginia:/abr /br /blockquoteInvestigators said they now believe the shootings that slightly injured two drivers were part of a long night of random gunfire in which the 19-year-old, a former high school athlete with a record of making trouble, and a 16-year-old also shot at a credit union and a residence.br /br /”Everyone can, I think, rest compared to the state that we were in overnight,” State Police Superintendent Steven Flaherty said at a news conference in Charlottesville…..br /br /On a MySpace page attributed to Woodson, he described his occupation as “mechanic, sorta” and wrote, “Im just a country boy who keeps gettin his heart broken!!! Ive got my heart broken twice in less then a year… i dunno wat to do…. keep gettin my heart broke or stop caring!!! and i dont wanna stop caring.”br /br /Police declined to offer a possible motive in the highway shootings, which began early Thursday in central Virginia./blockquotebr /br /Woodson, the nineteen year old suspect sounds like a real prize:br /br /blockquoteAccording to news reports and court records, Woodson was arrested January 18, 2007, on allegations he stole two pickup trucks and set them on fire. Woodson, a former high school pole vaulter, was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of petit larceny and given a suspended sentence./blockquotebr /br /If I am reading this article correctly, stealing pick-up trucks and setting them on fire is just a misdemeanor worthy only of a suspended sentence. What’s up with that? I don’t know the details of this situation, but I have seen enough to know that even when teens and adults commit some pretty serious crimes, they often get a slap on the wrist. It’s no wonder someone with a reputation as a troublemaker feels that he can get away with anything. Suddenly, shooting at random people on an interstate seems like a fun way to spend an evening, especially when one has rarely encountered any serious consequences for their past behavior.