Neighbor Shooting Directly Towards My Home Just Hundreds of Feet Away

[Deanimator]

I believe in a case like this I would find a sawmill and buy some rough cut boards of a very dense wood like oak then build a section of solid board fence with his shooting station and the wood pile long enough to act a barrier between him and the house. Then check the fence on a regular basis. First time there was a bullet hole you would have a case for destruction of property. That would help greatly in negotiating with him to cease and desist the dumb stuff.

(I heard that... no none of my sisters had a house dropped on them.)

Evidence is everything.

 

[taliv]

Perhaps I was naive, but I really thought that the sheriff would respond after a few hours and that would have been the end of it.

It’s not just an unrealistic expectation of response time, but a difference in mindset. I not only don’t rely on the gov to do what I can do for myself, but I don’t want them involved at all. Calling the cops on your neighbor is a sure way of having them looking for any excuse to return the favor. And it’s wasting their time.

 

[rpenmanparker]

I think you guys are all nuts. This isn't someone playing loud music or parking three cars on his lawn. He is shooting at your house. You don't bring him a chocolate cake. You don't invite him over for dinner. You don't chat him up about it. What he is doing is his way of life. He is not going to change that because you ask him too. If what he is doing is not actually illegal, and you aren't willing to do something illegal to dissuade him from his behavior, then there is no choice but to move. Now one thing that might have the desired effect would be for you to shoot back at him. Not to hit him, but just to let him see how it feels. Be sure to wave and smile.

 

[Deanimator]

It’s not just an unrealistic expectation of response time, but a difference in mindset. I not only don’t rely on the gov to do what I can do for myself, but I don’t want them involved at all. Calling the cops on your neighbor is a sure way of having them looking for any excuse to return the favor. And it’s wasting their time.

About twenty years ago, I had an upstairs neighbor who was very obviously beating his wife/girlfriend. You could literally hear her begging him not to hit her.

I called the cops on him several times before he climbed out on a fourth floor ledge threatening to jump. He kicked a cop who tried to pull him in... an error in judgment on his part. The last time I saw him, he was handcuffed in the back of a squad car, beating his head against the side glass, a la "Cops".

What would you have recommended I do instead? Go upstairs and fistfight with him? Shoot him?

What was he going to call the police on me FOR? NOT beating my girlfriend?

If police have ANY use, it's in situations like that described above. If not, they need to be abolished completely.

 

[Deanimator]

Now one thing that might have the desired effect would be for you to shoot back at him.

Somehow I doubt that getting YOURSELF arrested is an optimal solution to the problem.

 

[rpenmanparker]

About twenty years ago, I had an upstairs neighbor who was very obviously beating his wife/girlfriend. You could literally hear her begging him not to hit her.

I called the cops on him several times before he climbed out on a fourth floor ledge threatening to jump. He kicked a cop who tried to pull him in... an error in judgment on his part. The last time I saw him, he was handcuffed in the back of a squad car, beating his head against the side glass, a la "Cops".

What would you have recommended I do instead? Go upstairs and fistfight with him? Shoot him?

What was he going to call the police on me FOR? NOT beating my girlfriend?

If police have ANY use, it's in situations like that described above. If not, they need to be abolished completely.

Yes but in most places, maybe not Ohio townships, whatever those are, it is illegal to beat your girlfriend. Apparently not so for shooting at someone's house.

 

[rpenmanparker]

Somehow I doubt that getting YOURSELF arrested is an optimal solution to the problem.

How would that happen? How could OP be arrested but not the neighbor for the exact same activity? It has been agreed that there is no prohibition where OP lives against shooting toward someone's house. Does it not work both ways?

 

[danez71]

About twenty years ago, I had an upstairs neighbor who was very obviously beating his wife/girlfriend. You could literally hear her begging him not to hit her.

I called the cops on him several times before he climbed out on a fourth floor ledge threatening to jump. He kicked a cop who tried to pull him in... an error in judgment on his part. The last time I saw him, he was handcuffed in the back of a squad car, beating his head against the side glass, a la "Cops".

What would you have recommended I do instead? Go upstairs and fistfight with him? Shoot him?

Thank you.

 

[danez71]

How would that happen? How could OP be arrested but not the neighbor for the exact same activity? It has been agreed that there is no prohibition where OP lives against shooting toward someone's house. Does it not work both ways?

Who said that?

 

[boom boom]

Boom Boom, your response relies completely on 'intent"...."of course I didn't intend to kill my neighbor; I was shooting at a rat in my wood pile"

The OH statute seems to employ a reasonable prudent person std.--e.g. firing toward a habitation knowingly is enough rather than intending to hurt someone. That very act, is consider criminal by Ohio, as it increases the likelihood of injury to the inhabitants of the structure. That would be a separate charge if the intent was to hurt an individual-for example assault with a deadly weapon which might be more difficult to prove as far as firing toward a house where your defense might make sense.

If you can see a house and you are firing toward it, you can have criminal liability depending on OH caselaw defining what constitutes evidence of "knowing", the prosecutor (mebbe grand jury or pre-trial ruling by judge), and what a trial jury says because the std. is whether you knowingly did the act that is considered unlawful not whether or not you intended to hurt the inhabitant.

A lot of the criminal codes in the U.S. have gotten away from the common law std. of mens rea simply because it is easier to write a law that simply argues certain actions, in and of themselves, constitute a crime against society rather than proving that the actions were undertaken with malicious intent.

 

[rpenmanparker]

Who said that?

It has already even established that no one in law enforcement cares what the neighbor does. Why should they care what OP does of the same type?

 

[silicosys4]

Can you not call the sheriff and report that shots are being fired at your house? Skip all the details you gave us. Don’t ask for a meeting or a resolution. Just say that shots are being fired at your house.

Purposefully lying to the police or omitting details from your report specifically for the purpose of misleading LE to elicit a stronger response is basically swatting, its how innocent people get shot by the police, it's how police get shot, and its disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[alsaqr]

.

If police have ANY use, it's in situations like that described above. If not, they need to be abolished completely.

Exactly!!!!

. Firing range safety is my thing. I've testified in court against ignorant. shooters like the one in the OP.

.

 

[rpenmanparker]

Purposefully lying to the police or omitting details from your report specifically for the purpose of misleading LE to elicit a stronger response is basically swatting, its how innocent people get shot by the police, it's how police get shot, and its disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself.

What are you talking about? You are spouting nonsense. I’m simply recommending keeping it simple. Someone is shooting at the house. Just say so. No need to describe the timber backstop, the distance between houses, etc. The sheriff probably went to sleep on the phone. Emergency. I’m scared. Someone is shooting, period. On a 911 line. You want the neighbor to stop? That is how to do it. If the cops don’t come out for that, it is time to move.

 

[taliv]

About twenty years ago, I had an upstairs neighbor who was very obviously beating his wife/girlfriend. You could literally hear her begging him not to hit her.

I called the cops on him several times before he climbed out on a fourth floor ledge threatening to jump. He kicked a cop who tried to pull him in... an error in judgment on his part. The last time I saw him, he was handcuffed in the back of a squad car, beating his head against the side glass, a la "Cops".

What would you have recommended I do instead? Go upstairs and fistfight with him? Shoot him?

What was he going to call the police on me FOR? NOT beating my girlfriend?

If police have ANY use, it's in situations like that described above. If not, they need to be abolished completely.

No I would do the same thing you did in the situation you described

However I don’t see how that’s anything like the situation the OP described.

 

[silicosys4]

What are you talking about? I’m simply recommending keeping it simple. Someone is shooting at the house. Just say so.

Except the guy isn't shooting at the house. He is shooting at a poorly designed backstop, behind which lies a house. Telling the police he is "shooting at a house" is a lie. You are purposefully misrepresenting his actions and intent.

No need to describe the timber backstop, the distance between houses, etc. Someone is shooting, period. On a 911 line. You want the neighbor to stop? That is how to do it. If the cops don’t come out for that, it is time to move.

No, this is how you get your neighbors door kicked in, and this is how people get shot.

You give the police every bit of information you have. Every bit. They are putting their lives on the line based on what you say.
Purposefully omitting information as to mislead the police about what is actually happening for the purpose of eliciting a more serious response than they would normally give if they had all the details is gross. Its disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself

 

[rpenmanparker]

Except the guy isn't shooting at the house. He is shooting at a poorly designed backstop, behind which lies a house. Telling the police he is "shooting at a house" is a lie



No, this is how you get your neighbors door kicked in, and this is how people get shot.

You give the police every bit of information you have. Every bit. They are putting their lives on the line based on what you say.
Purposefully omitting information as to mislead the police about what is actually happening for the purpose of eliciting a more serious response than they would normally give if they had all the details is gross. Its disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself

If the backstop is insufficient, he is indeed shooting at the house. And who is expert enough to predict where a bullet will land when looking down the barrel. The fault here is not mine, it is the bumbling lawmakers’ in Ohio who let this unsafe situation occur. Since when should I worry about a perp instead of myself and my family? The only thing that I would be ashamed of would be letting this intolerable situation continue even one minute longer.

 

[silicosys4]

Except the guy isn't shooting at the house. He is shooting at a poorly designed backstop, behind which lies a house. Telling the police he is "shooting at a house" is a lie.

If the backstop is insufficient, he is indeed shooting at the house.

If the backstop is insufficient, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop. If there is a house behind the backstop, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop, behind which lies a house. These are facts.

And who is expert enough to predict where s bullet will land when looking down the barrel. The fault here is not mine, it is the bumbling lawmakers’ in Ohio who let this unsafe situation occur. Since when should I worry about a perp instead of myself and my family?

You should worry about the police you are sending into harms way.

The only thing that I would be ashamed of would be letting this intolerable situation continue even one minute longer.

That doesn't mean you get to misrepresent an extremely negligent neighbor as a homicidal active shooter.

 

[rpenmanparker]

If the backstop is insufficient, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop. If there is a house behind the backstop, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop, behind which lies a house. These are facts.




You should worry about the police you are sending into harms way.

Okay Mr. Expert, you solve the problem. But do not tell me who is more important to protect than my family. The neighbor is the perp. I don’t care about him. The deputies are doing their job. I hope they can do it safely, but they have to figure that out. I can’t do it for them.

 

[alsaqr]

However I don’t see how that’s anything like the situation the OP described.

.Yep, the idiot ain't shooting at your house.

 

[danez71]

..... and he's about to succeed in getting other thread shut down.

 

[rpenmanparker]

If the backstop is insufficient, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop. If there is a house behind the backstop, he is shooting at an insufficient backstop, behind which lies a house. These are facts.




You should worry about the police you are sending into harms way.



That doesn't mean you get to misrepresent an extremely negligent neighbor as a homicidal active shooter.

It’s a 911 call, not a court deposition.

 

[silicosys4]

Okay Mr. Expert, you solve the problem. But do not tell me who is more important to protect than my family. The neighbor is the perp. I don’t care about him. The deputies are doing their job. I hope they can do it safely, but they have to figure that out. I can’t do it for them.

I know that the best solution for this particular situation doesn't involve being a more dangerous neighbor than the one you are complaining about.

The deputies are doing their job. I hope they can do it safely, but they have to figure that out. I can’t do it for them.

I suggest if you are concerned at all about the safety of the responding officers, you do not misrepresent your neighbor as an active shooter targeting your house. You tell them the truth, give them all the details you have, and let them "figure that out". If the response is unsatisfactory, then you look at other (legal) options.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Thanks for the responses....
I seriously thought about talking with him but was thinking along the lines that since I do not know what type of person he is and the fact they are shooting towards my house without any protection (the lack of common sense point), perhaps it was better to let the sheriff make the first contact.

I do not think helping to build a better range is an option with just a 0.75-acre lot and frankly, would never be comfortable with one pointing my direction...there are houses all around with the similar sized lots so I do not think it is a good idea...believe me, I tried to figure out how to do it a few years back.

With my limited knowledge of the Ohio Township law (can shoot anywhere without any safety requirements), I am not sure sending a letter would help unless it was for a lawsuit for shooting damages down the road.

Everybody's house is some place no matter what direction you look or shoot.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I think you guys are all nuts. This isn't someone playing loud music or parking three cars on his lawn. He is shooting at your house. You don't bring him a chocolate cake. You don't invite him over for dinner. You don't chat him up about it. What he is doing is his way of life. He is not going to change that because you ask him too. If what he is doing is not actually illegal, and you aren't willing to do something illegal to dissuade him from his behavior, then there is no choice but to move. Now one thing that might have the desired effect would be for you to shoot back at him. Not to hit him, but just to let him see how it feels. Be sure to wave and smile.

No body said he shot any body's house. If he is shooting at his house and never hit it what do you think he is missing by accident?

Have the laws changed since they bought the house? If they are the same as when you bought it then you had your chance to know what you were buying. It could be worse, the moron could have a "Mr. Douglas" complex and start raising a pack of stinking chickens.