NC - student found in Tenn. says he was kidnapped

[Joe Friday]

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?id=7814621&section=news/local

NC student found in Tenn. says he was kidnapped

CHARLOTTE -- Investigators in Tennessee are questioning a report by an Appalachian State University student who says he was abducted and shot.

The Charlotte Observer reports Matthew Burleson, 22, of Stanfield was found in Johnson County, Tenn., on Wednesday after texting family members that he had been abducted and shot and was trying to make it to a hospital.

When officers in Tennessee later spotted his truck, it turned around, drove about half a mile, and turned again, Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece told the Watauga Democrat. The truck, registered to Burleson's dad, then ran off the road, hit an embankment and overturned.

Read more at link.

 

[LadyL]

right, so he's a good candidate for public mischief charges and a big fine for wasting the time & resources of emergency personnel and taxpayer money

 

[Canadian4]

Weird story. Was he driving the truck? turning around twice? with a gunshot wound to the chest???

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

The origional story stated there was a hole in the windshield from a bullet and one in his chest...how did that happen? And like pp's have said, why turn around, twice, why not stop? So so confusing! I wonder if the gun found close to the scene belonging to the victims father was the one that fired the shot?

 

[Lyn1001]

The only reason I can think for his texting his family and turning the truck around a few times is that he was in shock and disoriented. He may have really had no clue what the heck was going on if he'd been shot. It certianly sounds like the shot came from outside the vehicle. Very strange story.

 

[lonetraveler]

The origional story stated there was a hole in the windshield from a bullet and one in his chest...how did that happen? And like pp's have said, why turn around, twice, why not stop? So so confusing! I wonder if the gun found close to the scene belonging to the victims father was the one that fired the shot?

I'm thinking that the gun found yards from the truck will be the one that fired a shot through the windshield and into the young man. :waitasec: That would mean, to me at least, that the student either had the gun on his person at school or the gun was already in the truck. This is beginning to look like a "story" he made up and that he sot himself. Hope I'm wrong but this is just my thought right now.

 

[impatientredhead]

I think all the shots were fired by the victim.
The two through the windows and the one to his chest.
Either a weird suicide attempt or a staged event for some reason.

Doesn't it say the gun that was found belongs to the victims father?
The truck is the father's, the gun is the father's, I am completely thinking self inflicted.

 

[Joe Friday]

I'm thinking that the gun found yards from the truck will be the one that fired a shot through the windshield and into the young man. :waitasec: That would mean, to me at least, that the student either had the gun on his person at school or the gun was already in the truck. This is beginning to look like a "story" he made up and that he sot himself. Hope I'm wrong but this is just my thought right now.

I think all the shots were fired by the victim.
The two through the windows and the one to his chest.
Either a weird suicide attempt or a staged event for some reason.

Doesn't it say the gun that was found belongs to the victims father?
The truck is the father's, the gun is the father's, I am completely thinking self inflicted.

BBM

The article said that it was a "shotgun round" that that appeared to have passed through Burleson's body, through the driver's seat and into the back of the truck. I would think it would be pretty difficult to shoot yourself with a shotgun, much less when your sitting inside a truck. Without knowing the exact trajectory of the bullet it is hard to speculate, but imagine trying to hold a shotgun is such a manner to have the bullet pass though your body, through the seat and into the back of the truck, which I assume means the bed of the truck. Maybe you could rest the butt of the gun on the dash if you had enough room, but the kick of the gun I think would break the windshield when fired or at the very least leave a mark in the interior of the truck where the butt of the gun impacted after being shot. I think it would be very hard to keep a hold of a shotgun when firing it like this.

Also the gun would have to be fired at point blank range in order to reach the trigger (if even possible) if this was self inflicted. If this was a self inflicted gunshot wound IMO there would be GSR on his hands and stippling on his body to prove it. There would also be GSR inside the truck.


Updated article: http://www.jdnews.com/articles/student-85284-tenn-charlotte.html

 

[Linda7NJ]

BBM

The article said that it was a "shotgun round" that that appeared to have passed through Burleson's body, through the driver's seat and into the back of the truck. I would think it would be pretty difficult to shoot yourself with a shotgun, much less when your sitting inside a truck. Without knowing the exact trajectory of the bullet it is hard to speculate, but imagine trying to hold a shotgun is such a manner to have the bullet pass though your body, through the seat and into the back of the truck, which I assume means the bed of the truck. Maybe you could rest the butt of the gun on the dash if you had enough room, but the kick of the gun I think would break the windshield when fired or at the very least leave a mark in the interior of the truck where the butt of the gun impacted after being shot. I think it would be very hard to keep a hold of a shotgun when firing it like this.

Also the gun would have to be fired at point blank range in order to reach the trigger (if even possible) if this was self inflicted. If this was a self inflicted gunshot wound IMO there would be GSR on his hands and stippling on his body to prove it. There would also be GSR inside the truck.


Updated article: http://www.jdnews.com/articles/student-85284-tenn-charlotte.html

I totally agree. But I am confused as to where the "shotgun" came from. The article states his fathers handgun was found 60 feet away and I read no mention of a shotgun

 

[Joe Friday]

I totally agree. But I am confused as to where the "shotgun" came from. The article states his fathers handgun was found 60 feet away and I read no mention of a shotgun

I don't think he ever had a shotgun. The article says that the hand gun was "also" found. That could mean that a shotgun and a hand gun were both found I guess, but they just didn't mention it in the article.

Since the hand gun was found 60 yard from the truck I'm thinking he throw it out before he crashed. 60 yards is a long distance for the gun to be ejected and thrown from the vehicle when the vehicle hit the embankment and overturned. But I guess anything is possible and the officers that were perusing him would know if the gun was thrown out of the truck on purpose or by the force of the impact. Obviously if the gun was found 60 yard further from the truck in the same direction the truck was traveling it could not have been thrown out by him. Perhaps he disposed of the shotgun prior to LE following him also.

I think LE is thinking this is maybe some kind of drug deal gone wrong and or he is covering for someone that shot him and that is why LE asked the questions they did about drugs. Why else would someone not pull over that was abducted and shot when a police car is following them? He would have received the medical attention much sooner if he had. I imagine he could have been delusional but why did it just so happen that he started acting in this manner when a patrol car happen to start following him? He didn't want LE to know he was shot or find him with a gun IMO.

I don't imagine video footage, if there is any from the gas station or around campus will turn up any scraggly looking middle-aged drifter either and I doubt some drifter is going to be carrying around a shotgun at a gas station just waiting to use it to abduct someone. That would be pretty noticeable and someone would have seen something to back up his story.


Another thing that is strange about the whole thing is he doesn't remember anything about the incident about being shot. But he can tell LE he was abducted at a gas station near campus by a scraggly looking middle-aged drifter who he'd seen around campus before. He can remember such details as seeing this guy before on campus but can't remember how he got shot. That makes me think he is being deceptive.


All JMO

 

[impatientredhead]

BBM

The article said that it was a "shotgun round" that that appeared to have passed through Burleson's body, through the driver's seat and into the back of the truck. I would think it would be pretty difficult to shoot yourself with a shotgun, much less when your sitting inside a truck. Without knowing the exact trajectory of the bullet it is hard to speculate, but imagine trying to hold a shotgun is such a manner to have the bullet pass though your body, through the seat and into the back of the truck, which I assume means the bed of the truck. Maybe you could rest the butt of the gun on the dash if you had enough room, but the kick of the gun I think would break the windshield when fired or at the very least leave a mark in the interior of the truck where the butt of the gun impacted after being shot. I think it would be very hard to keep a hold of a shotgun when firing it like this.

Also the gun would have to be fired at point blank range in order to reach the trigger (if even possible) if this was self inflicted. If this was a self inflicted gunshot wound IMO there would be GSR on his hands and stippling on his body to prove it. There would also be GSR inside the truck.


Updated article: http://www.jdnews.com/articles/student-85284-tenn-charlotte.html

Investigators found a gunshot round in the truck that appeared to have passed through Burleson's body, through the driver's seat and into the back of the truck. There was also a bullet hole in the passenger side windshield, the sheriff said.

From the link you provided I went back to see what I missed. It is an updated article but maybe the author was originally confused? Currently it says a gunshot wound to the chest and a gunshot round in the truck.

I agree that there will be residue on his hand and in the vehicle. I am still leaning completely in the self inflicted theory.

 

[Peliman]

The Charlotte Observer reports Matthew Burleson, 22, of Stanfield was found in Johnson County, Tenn., on Wednesday after texting family members that he had been abducted and shot and was trying to make it to a hospital.

He sure didn't make it very far if going to the hospital since he was found where the guns were.

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

Student says he made up kidnapping...

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/01/1879079/college-student-says-he-made-up.html

 

[Canadian4]

I'm not surprised but sad that he would go to this extreme.