Columbus Ohio area man shoots trespassing teen

[evan price]

For all those folks out there who like to brag about shooting first and asking questions later:

This house has a reputation in the area for being "haunted" and kids have been doing ghost runs out there forever.

(As quoted on the OHIO CCW Forums web site by another member, DWCOL: )

Now if he can just convince his cellmate that his rectum is also haunted, he might be fine.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/9721499/detail.html

Police: Homeowner Shoots Teen After Apparent Prank
Girl, 17, In Critical Condition

POSTED: 11:44 pm EDT August 22, 2006
UPDATED: 6:48 pm EDT August 23, 2006



WORTHINGTON, Ohio -- A 17-year-old girl was in critical condition on Wednesday morning after a homeowner allegedly shot her during an apparent prank.

Rachel Barezinsky is at The Ohio State University Medical Center, NBC 4's David Wayne reported.

The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. outside a home at Milton and Lincoln avenues, police said.

Barezinsky, 17, was among a group of five girls who allegedly went to a cemetery for a late-night thrill and then ran across the street to what has been described as a haunted house, according to police.

"This house is in a very woodsy area. The kids started going for a thrill hunt. They go down to the cemetery and the other aspect is to sort of run over to the house," said Worthington police Lt. Doug Francis. "They made a couple steps, they got in the yard and one of the girls that stayed behind honked the horn. When that occurred, that startled the girls and the girls ran back to the car."

Detectives said that when the girls ran around the house, a person who lives inside the house, Allen Davis, fired the shots.

Barezinsky was struck in the shoulder and head with rounds fired from a small-caliber handgun, Wayne reported.

The five teens then ran to their car and drove away before they flagged down an officer on High Street.

"The suspect, who we've charged, appears as if he was almost waiting or he was aware that this may occur," Francis said.

Residents said that similar thrill hunts have occurred recently, with people knocking on doors.

"I think he got fed up with people knocking on the door. The kids have been playing in the cemetery for years," said Steven Davis, a neighbor.

Davis, 40, granted a jailhouse interview to NBC 4 hours after his arrest, saying that the use of deadly force was justified. Davis told NBC 4's Nancy Burton that he just wanted to get his side of the story out.

Davis said that his home has been targeted by what he called juvenile delinquents for months. He said that on Tuesday night, he had had enough.

Davis admitted that he never saw anyone Tuesday night, but that he heard voices outside his home, which is why he said he didn't hesitate to pick up his .22-caliber rifle and fire two shots outside his bedroom window.

"I didn't know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were. In a situation like that you assume the worst-case scenario, if you're going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder," he said. "I don't know whether they were simply vandals or delinquents or simple trespassers. It could very well be that they had even more violent plans for my family. It's regretful that juveniles choose to engage in delinquent behavior."

Davis will make an initial court appearance on Thursday. He was charged with five counts of felonious assault.

"Did I mean to hurt anyone? No," he said. "Our family doesn't have a good relationship with Worthington police, so we sought our own home defense. I fired shots to drive them away."

When asked what he would say to the victim and her family, Davis replied, "Why was she engaging in delinquent behavior?"

Burton then asked Davis if he was sorry, to which he said, "Sorry for defending my family?"

Barezinsky's classmates have planned to hold a vigil on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Thomas Worthington High School.

Stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for additional information.
Copyright 2006 by nbc4i.com. All rights reserved.

 

[evan price]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...OL-?SITE=WBNSTV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Aug 23, 11:38 PM EDT

Teen shot in head when looking for ghosts with friends

By JoANNE VIVIANO
Associated Press Writer

WORTHINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- A teenager out looking for ghosts with her friends was shot in the head near a house considered spooky by local teens, police said Wednesday.

A man who lives in the house, Allen S. Davis, 40, was charged in the shooting, which critically injured the girl. He told reporters Wednesday from jail that he was trying to drive off trespassers and didn't intend to hurt the girls, whom he called juvenile delinquents.

He said he fired his rifle out his bedroom window Tuesday night after hearing voices outside the home, which is across the street from a cemetery and blocked from view by overgrown trees and shrubbery.

"I didn't know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were," he said. "In a situation like that, you assume the worst-case scenario if you're going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder."

The 17-year-old, Rachel Barezinsky, and two of her friends got out of their car parked near the home about 10 p.m. and took a few steps on the property, Lt. Doug Francis said. They jumped back in when a girl in the car sounded the horn, and they heard what they thought were firecrackers as they drove away.

The girls - all seniors at Thomas Worthington High School in suburban Columbus - drove around the block, and Barezinsky was struck while sitting in the car as they passed the house again and heard a second round of what turned out to be gunshots, Francis said.

Barezinsky, who also was struck in the shoulder, remained in critical condition at late Wednesday at Ohio State University Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. Her aunt, Tina Wedebrook, told reporters Barezinsky had surgery to relieve swelling in her brain and had been able to squeeze visitors' hands but was having trouble moving the left side of her body.

Davis, a self-employed nonfiction writer, said he had prepared the rifle after numerous previous instances of trespassing but he didn't know until Wednesday that teens considered his house haunted. Police should charge the teens with trespassing, he said.

"It's really something how homeowners defend themselves and the way the laws are written, we're the ones brought up on charges while the perpetrators get little or nothing."

Francis said police do not intend to pursue charges against the girls at this point.

As the girls' car drove away from the house, the driver noticed she had blood on her arm and passengers in the back seat also discovered blood, police said. They saw Barezinsky had collapsed in the front passenger's seat and drove until they could flag down two police officers. The other girls were not injured.

Hundreds gathered on the high school football field Wednesday night for a vigil for Barezinsky, a cheerleader at the school of about 1,700 students. Barezinsky's mother briefly addressed the crowd and stood with the teens who were in the car when Barezinsky was shot.

Principal Rich Littell said he had talked to Barezinsky at a freshman welcome dance Monday night.

"It just kills you. She's a great kid, very, very athletic. She was looking forward to ... the tumbling she was going to do at the football game," he said.

Davis, who was charged with five counts of felonious assault, told officers he had been annoyed by trespassers and that he was aiming for the car's tires from his first-floor bedroom, police said.

"He admitted to never calling the police, but it just had been occurring and he got frustrated and he was upset saying someone trespassed on his property and he was protecting his property," Francis said.

Davis' home had a reputation at the high school for being haunted by ghosts and witches, and students have been daring each other to knock on the door or go in the yard, Francis said.

Zoning officers have visited the home where Davis lives with his 64-year-old mother because of complaints that the property has not been kept up, police said. Davis said his mother, who is 64, prefers natural landscaping and considers turf a "natural disaster."

Betty Davis, 69, who lives around the corner from Davis but said she is not related, said he was quiet and kept to himself. Her children played with him when they were young, she said.

She was surprised he owned a gun.

"I guess last night was the last straw," she said. "I think it blew everybody's mind it would come to this."

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[Coronach]

As in everything, there is more to the story...but based upon preliminary reports and his own statements to the media,

THIS GUY IS DONE.

I cannot imagine any fact that could come forward to make it a good shoot. Stand by for the leftist assault on the usage of lethal force for self defense. This guy is a walking Straw Man.

Mike

 

[bigun15]

From what we know from the articles, he lost his temper and started shooting...

THIS GUY IS DONE.

 

[Frog48]

His "jailhouse interview" comments were pretty stupid. If he had kept his mouth shut, he would have a little better chance in court.

 

[vynx]

He should be done!

You don't shoot people for pranks (no matter how much you want to)!

Also, he didn't know WHERE that round was going. What if it hit a bystander walking on the sidewalk, or enterred a neighbors window and hit a child.

If he was shooting to scare as he said then he should have known his backstop - which he didn't.

I hope this guy gets his just deserts.

 

[Coronach]

Oh, let me be clear, lest anyone misunderstand. He should be done, assuming that everything we think we know is correct.

And the stupidity of the jailhouse interview is about on par with the earlier actions that placed him there. So at least he is consistently stupid.

Mike

 

[evan price]

Let this be a lesson to anyone; Your 5th Amendment rights include THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT and it is to your advantage to USE THIS RIGHT.

However, this is pretty much open & shut, a bad shoot, no lethal force was authorized, when/IF this fella gets out of jail, his entire life will be owned by the girl he shot or her family.

 

[mrtgbnkr]

If they had entered the house, or were trying to enter the house, I'd be inclined to back the guy up....but shooting to "drive off trespassers" is not sufficient cause to introduce deadly force into the equation.

I'm also guessing that he hasn't secured legal counsel yet, because no defense lawyer in his right mind would allow his client to grant that interview. He has the right to remain silent, what he lacks is the ability.

 

[ilbob]

Why is the trespasser not at least partially responsible for what happened to her?

We would all be up in arms if the same thing had happened but instead of getting herself shot for being somewhere she had no right to be, had stepped in a pothole, broke her leg, and sued the homeonwer.

I agree there was no reason to use lethal force, and it sounds like the guy didn't even know who or what he was shooting at, both big no-nos in my mind.

 

[blindndead]

?

Why didnt he just hold her at gunpoint until police got on the scene?

 

[Coronach]

Sure, she bears some culpability. But it pales in comparison to the use of deadly force when it is (seemingly) clearly not justified. It's not even in the same league of fault. It's not really worth discussing. You cannot shoot a teenage girl for running past your house. End of story.

Mike

 

[TallPine]

In other news, police are questioning two juveniles (a brother and sister) in the disappearance of an elderly woman who lived in a small house on a wooded property. The woman had previously complained to police that her home had been vandalized.

 

[Jim March]

No argument, guy is hosed and deserves it.

But...what it looks like is, he was bullied for too long and snapped. Humans are dangerous animals. Poke one with a stick often enough, long enough, somebody will eventually get dead.

Making one guy your target of "fun" can get you killed. "Deserve" has nothing to do with it, everybody has a breaking point. Hope the kiddies learned that lesson too.

 

[HankB]

No evidence of attempted B&E, no evidence of robbery or theft, the guy just started blazing away with "sound shots" i.e., shooting at the sound of what might have been trouble . . . and then gives prosecutors (and the future civil lawsuit lawyer) plenty to work with by opening his big mouth for a jailhouse interview . . .

The guy is a moron on so many levels it isn't even funny.

The girls were certainly wrong, but to start shooting because you're annoyed is truly criminal.

(Hmmm . . . if someone is often the target of pranks, I wonder if it would be possible for them to rig up a lawn sprinkler system to disperse pepper spray . . . or nontoxic, indelible dye? )

 

[ApexinM3]

Bad situation, worse shooter

How many of us have done stupid things as a kid? A lot of us. Did it warrant the use of deadly force? Not likely. This is a horrible shoot on so many levels, it is mind boggling just how shafted this guy is-and he deserves every bit of it.

I hope the girl makes it through this, hopefully recovery will be 100%. As for Davis' family, they will bear the brunt of his stupidity-they will most likely lose their home because of this. It's a shame, really.

I hope we all learn from this, though most likely none of us on THR would be stupid enough to put ones self in the same situation.

What I fear are the repercussions of this is the Castle Doctrine laws recently passed. The leftist media will probably slander these laws and cite this shot as an example, even though it has nothing to do with said laws. :banghead:

 

[Kentak]

I hope the girl recovers quickly. I'm sure she'll never repeat that stupid behavior. Was she wrong in her actions? Absolutely. The point here is the homeowner's actions in response to the kids' pranks. His actions were many orders of magnitude more wrong. They are a terrible reflection on those of us who are responsible and reasonable gun owners and advocates of RKBA.

Teens do stupid, reckless, and disrespectful things on occasion. Even kids who are generally good kids will often go along with group pranks. 99% of the time, they aren't a serious threat to anyone, just annoying as hell. Chances are you did such things and/or your kids are--you just don't know about it.

The guy was all wrong and not in the least justified. Bad karma.

K

 

[Greg L]

This guy sounds like a moron & I hope that he goes down hard.

That said:

Also, he didn't know WHERE that round was going. What if it hit a bystander walking on the sidewalk, or enterred a neighbors window and hit a child.

Or what if that round hit an airplane full of paralyzed orphans causing it to crash into the local convent on Mother Theresa night. Or what if that round hit an underground natural gas pipeline causing an explosion that shook the entire cemetary causing the bodies to rise from the grave as zombies.

"What if" games tend to be portrayed much worse than what actually happened in order to generate a negative emotional response towards the subject in question. If the story is true then I know that he is a dangerous idiot, I don't need to feel that he is one.

Conversely what if the rounds hit a tree in the yard scaring the girls into becoming model citizens for their lifetime. Neither happened though (zombies or model citizens) , let the guy either hang or go free based upon his own actions.

(not trying to pick on you vynx, just a minor pet peeve of mine - time to switch to decaf.... )

 

[Sistema1927]

"What a maroon".

This type or irresponsibility gives all of us a black eye. He deserves all that he gets.

 

[buck00]

This guy shouldn't have used deadly force to deal with the local teens, there are many other options to repel them. You either buy a BIG DOG or invest in a paintball gun. Bite marks or welts on their asses might deter them from egging you.

When we were young, the local farmer would shoot at us with rock salt from a shotgun. We learned pretty fast not to mess with his crops.

 

[MechAg94]

1. I wouldn't want to hang around outside defending my house with a paint ball gun. Might not be a dumb teenager one time. Might be an armed teenager or other criminal.

2. I would be curious if there was a history of calls to police for this or a history of actual vandalism/theft. Just curious. It might help the guy, but might not.

3.

Teens do stupid, reckless, and disrespectful things on occasion. Even kids who are generally good kids will often go along with group pranks. 99% of the time, they aren't a serious threat to anyone, just annoying as hell. Chances are you did such things and/or your kids are--you just don't know about it.

Yes, and sometimes teens get themselves injured or killed doing stupid stuff. There are consequences and kids learn the hard way sometimes. I am not trying to justify the shooter, just pointing that out. Teens get away with stuff a lot, but adults should not dismiss that behavior as "harmless fun" if they see it.

4. I wonder if this would be justified in Texas. It was trespassing at night. I guess it depends. Still not a good idea for a home owner to do this.

 

[HankB]

4. I wonder if this would be justified in Texas. It was trespassing at night.

IANAL, but as I understand the law, I would say probably not. Texas law provides for shooting a thief at night, not a (presumed) trespasser.

There was no evidence that the girl was trying to swipe his car, a hubcap off his car, or even a lawn ornament.

Under these circumstances, I don't think a TX jury would be very kind to the shooter when rendering a verdict.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

What a tragedy. Hope the young lady recovers fully, and does so very quickly. As stated before, teens do stupid stuff. Its almost a right of passage for kids to carry out anoying pranks. To shoot a kid over something like that just doesnt make sense to me. All the best to her.

 

[Henry Bowman]

Why is the trespasser not at least partially responsible for what happened to her?

Let's put the shooting into what is the reported context. The girls had done their stroll up the sidewalk, returned to the car, and drove away. They circled the block and on the return pass were hit by bullets.

The 17-year-old, Rachel Barezinsky, and two of her friends got out of their car parked near the home about 10 p.m. and took a few steps on the property, Lt. Doug Francis said. They jumped back in when a girl in the car sounded the horn, and they heard what they thought were firecrackers as they drove away.

The girls - all seniors at Thomas Worthington High School in suburban Columbus - drove around the block, and Barezinsky was struck while sitting in the car as they passed the house again and heard a second round of what turned out to be gunshots, Francis said.

 

[MechAg94]

The first article says she was hit when running around the house. The 2nd article says it was when sitting in the car. The 2nd article had some more detail. Shooting someone in a car nearby in much different than shooting who is on your property. The interview with guy implied that someone was walking around on his property when he shot. The facts are little confusing. Did they get hit while in the car or did they just not notice the girl was hit until then?

Either way, it wasn't a good shoot and certainly not in that state.

He would have been better off putting on a mask and firing up a chain saw. That was scare any kids off pretty quick.