Member-only story
The Japanese Exchange Student Who Got Shot In Louisiana
The story of Hattori Yoshihiro.
October 17, 1992.
At about 8 pm, A Volvo parked outside the residence of a thirty-year old supermarket butcher, named Rodney Peairs and his wife, Bonnie Peairs. In the vehicle, two teenage boys try to figure out if they were at the right address to a Halloween party they were invited to.
Decorated in Halloween decorations, the home was in a working-class neighborhood in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
To the boys, they were on the right road. The house they were looking at was exactly what had been described on the invitation. But was the number of the home the correct one?
The two boys walked out of their car and into the property of Rodney Peairs. The front doorbell rang, they waited, but nobody came out. They began walking back towards their car when suddenly the boys heard the side door leading to the carport opening, and Mrs. Pearis peeped to see who it was.
She saw one of the boys from a distance. He wore a neck brace due to a recent injury, and bandages as part of a Halloween costume. She was about to be questioned by him when the second boy walked out of a corner and headed to where she was. Frightened, she slammed the door quickly against them.
Stunned by her reaction, the boys thought they might have been in the wrong home. So they turned around again and headed to their car. Few feet away from the car, they heard the carport door open. This time it wasn’t the woman from earlier, but a man. A man with a 44 Magnum revolver.
The boy who frightened Mrs. Peairs, turned back to meet the man. “we’re here for the party.” He said while walking towards him. The man pointed a gun at the boy and yelled “Freeze!” Before anyone could understand what was going on, the sound of the revolver went off and the 16-year-old, named Yoshihiro Hattori was on the floor.
The lights from the Halloween decorations began fading away slowly.
Born on November 22, 1975, Yoshihiro Hattori was a Japanese teenager and son to Masaichi Hattori, an engineer, and his wife Mieko Hattori. He was 16 years old when he went to Baton Rouge in August 1992 as part of the American Field…
