Posted on 08/25/2006 7:41:16 AM PDT by Teflonic
WORTHINGTON, Ohio Aug 24, 2006 (AP)— Someone shot at a carload of teenage girls, critically wounding one of them, after some of them had stepped near a house that had been rumored by fellow students to be haunted, police said.
A man who lives in the house, Allen S. Davis, was arrested Wednesday in the shooting of 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky the night before. He told reporters Wednesday from jail that he was trying to drive off trespassers and didn't intend to hurt the girls.
Barezinsky remained in critical condition Thursday at Ohio State University Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said.
Barezinsky's aunt, Tina Wedebrook, told reporters Wednesday that the girl 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' home, across from a cemetery and overgrown with trees and weeds, had a reputation among local teens for being haunted. Students at Thomas Worthington High School in suburban Columbus had been daring each other to knock on the door or go in the yard, police Lt. Doug Francis said.
Barezinsky and two of her friends got out of their car parked near the home about 10 p.m. and took a few steps onto the property, Francis said. They jumped back in when a girl still in the car sounded the horn, and they heard what they thought were firecrackers as they drove away, he said.
The girls drove around the block, and Barezinsky was struck in the head and shoulder while sitting in the car as they passed the house again, Francis said. 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.
Police said Davis a self-employed nonfiction writer who lives with his 64-year-old mother, he told investigators he was aiming for the car's tires.
Davis, 40, appeared before a judge Thursday on five counts of felonious assault. His bond was set at $500,000.
Davis told reporters Wednesday he had prepared the rifle after numerous instances of trespassing.
Damn, what a freak!
A handgun would be an appropriate weapon, but not a rifle.
Nothing makes me cringe more than knuckleheads like this guy getting their hands on firearms and making our RKBA that much more of an uphill struggle. Dashing to the gun cabinet to deal with a carload of giggly, blonde, teenage girls? Un-freaking-real.
~ Blue Jays ~
Sure. Keeping his yard neat would probably have been even better.
Creepy, dysfunctional guys don't often use the best judgement. Clearly, neither do cute young college girls.
Boo Radley, NOOOO!!
Is that Lloyd Christmas???
"If a social outcast keeps to himself/herself and doesn't bother you, it doesn't pay to harass the outcast. And it is VERY unwise to pile on with more harassment when others have been doing the same for many years. All persons do have a breaking point.
That being said I feel that this fellow committed a criminal act and should be prosecuted."
I agree with you. This is a gray area on gun rights as far as I am concerned. He had no way to know they were a "car full of cheerleaders" who knows what this misfit has endured over the years?
The girls were stupid, and got more than they bargained for. Him going to jail is not going to make her possibly life altering injuries go away.
We're talking about silly teenage girls here. Davis could have stormed out of the house shouting like a nutcase and the girlies would have driven away, never to return. You would have similarly taken a shot with a rifle if you were there?
~ Blue Jays ~
roo-be-roo-be-roooooooo!
Norman Bates type. Another story from the Columbus Dispatch said that he did not call the police because he had a bad relationship with the City of Worthington. He had numerous run-ins with local officials because of the manner in which he kept his property and the risk it posed.
Your mention of Boo Radley echoes what I told my students yesterday: this episode shows us how one can get the WRONG message from the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, as if it were true that all recluses were just shy boys like Boo Radley.
I'd have mowed the grass instead, but that's just me.
I am surprised at how many are giving these teens a pass for their actions. Many seem to think actions don't have consequences.
___________
Proportionate response, Tom, proportionate response.
Are you really suggesting that you, personally, would do the same under these circumstances.
Jeez Louise, get a fence, get a dog. Shoot them, I think not.
What kind of freaky cult did this guy belong to? Jeez.
He should have just walked out and said "How are you ladies doing this fine evening? Anything I can help you with?"
Uh, yeah. Culture of Life, and all.
Geeze...
My point was that he had no right to shoot them on the street no matter what. He was in no way defending himself. The only reason he would have had to shoot at them while they were on the street would have been if they were shooting at him first. But apparently the girls were not packing UZI's and blasting away at his mommies house from the street.
Even still, if they were on his property what justification would he have to shoot at them? I'd hate to be the UPS delivery guy....
Who is that guy? He looks like a young George Hamilton.
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