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Teen Shot in Head at 'Haunted' House
ABC News ^
| 8/24/06
| JoANNE VIVIANO
Posted on 08/25/2006 7:41:16 AM PDT by Teflonic
click here to read article
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To: Mrs. P
"What would you do if you lived in a house across the road from a country cemetery that is "haunted"? "Hmmmm, that's a problem. They aren't even on your property.
You've tried the police. Although for non-emergencies, you aren't supposed to call 911, you are supposed to call the police directly. But I assume you do that, so forgive me for pointing that out.
Suggestions....
- I assume that you have asked the police what you can do to get them off the road. That of course is your first action.
- The expensive option is to try to get a night vision video camera that can record them, and then you have evidence to prosecute them for disturbing the peace or public nuisance. You can get a restraining order to keep them off of your road.
- If the cemetary is supposed to be haunted, you can try to scare them. Wire the cemetary with some speakers and then just every once in a while play a creapy sound. Enough to spook them, but not constant enough that they find the speakers.
- Don't go out there and try to scare them yourself, we had guns when we were teenagers. And if we were camping out, or hanging out in the woods, we had them with us for our own protection.
- If you can get license plates, the police might tell you who is coming out there, and you can try the approach of complaining to their parents that the teens are hanging out there and making too much noice. Probably won't work with all of them, depending on the parents, but it probably will work with most. Or the police might lodge the complaint for you.
- Find them a better place to hang than your road.
- Have you tried politely asking the teens not to hang out there, because they are keeping you up, etc. I don't know the teens, so I wouldn't go out there alone without neighbors ready to spring to your defense.
- Where do they park? On the road or on someone's land? Who owns that land? Put up a no parking sign, or a "reserved-violators will be towed" sign. If it's someone's land. Might be an option even if it's public land or road, but check with the police. If you can somehow eliminate the parking, the problem should go away or at least shift back into the cemetary.
- Put up a roadside cross with an epitaph to someone being murdered there. Might make a few of them uneasy enough to leave. (I.e. You don't have to shoot one of them, just let them think you did.)
- How regularly do they come. It it something you can break the habit with by "foul smells" or a strategically placed straw or leaf fire, a pile of manure. Anything to break the habit.
- Flood the area with light. It's anathema to unruly teens.
Anybody else got ideas?
81
posted on
08/25/2006 6:30:07 PM PDT
by
DannyTN
To: Mrs. P
- If thousands of dollars of damage has been done, maybe the church that owns the cemetary will consider putting street lamps up.
- Neighborhood watch signs might scare off the dope dealers.
- Check with some of the other cemetaries and find out what they do to keep vandals away.
- See if you can put cop lights on a car and park it on the street for a while. Make the perps think there is a police presence there. You might want to check with the police, because it might be against the law to actually have certain kinds of lights. And don't ever identify yourself as the police. You might pick some up cheap on ebay.
82
posted on
08/25/2006 6:46:55 PM PDT
by
DannyTN
To: Mrs. P
Here's an idea...
Call the creepy cop and his mother up and tell them that you are seeing ghosts in the cemetary every couple of weeks or so.
You get free police presence as long as he buys it. You do have to put up with some flashing lights, but it ought to be quieter.
83
posted on
08/25/2006 7:04:45 PM PDT
by
DannyTN
To: DannyTN; Mrs. P
Boo! ;) Just kidding. I'm just popping in to say that you, Mrs. P, are obviously a lovely woman with an irritating problem but you're handling it with intelligence and patience. DannyTN, you've given so much thought to suggestions that might help Mrs. P. I hope one of them will work.
Teens are fascinated with cemetaries. I spent a few nights lurking in them too when I was just a young lady. We never did anything wrong, but I'm sure my girlfriends and I were probably irritating someone living nearby with our giggles, yelps of fright and silliness in general. I'm so glad that folks back then said, "ah, those darn kids are in the cemetary again", but they'd never consider shooting us.
DannyTN came up with so many ideas that I really can't think of any good ones to add. I did think of one that is humorous and just might work though. Teens seem to respect folks who aren't "fuddy duddies" (do they still use that term? LOL) Perhaps you could paint up a big sign to place in front of your house, near the road, that says, "Ghostbusters, please try to be quiet. Respect the living and the dead. SOME of the dead are sleeping in the cemetary, and so are we. Thank you, The Ghost Watchers AND The Spirits who Watch the Ghost Watchers." LOL!
84
posted on
08/25/2006 7:22:20 PM PDT
by
Chena
("I'm not young enough to know everything." (Oscar Wilde))
To: Mrs. P
Hi Mrs. P-
The reason I asked is because you hadn't yet offered your potential solutions to the noise and vandalism problems that were occuring in the cemetery until later in the thread.
~ Blue Jays ~
85
posted on
08/25/2006 9:55:05 PM PDT
by
Blue Jays
(Rock Hard, Ride Free)
To: Blue Jays
because you hadn't yet offered your potential solutionsThe reason I was asking was I saw that someone had an innovative idea that worked for a problem similar to the one we have all year long and thought I'd ask that person if he had a good idea for our problem that would work. As it turns out, he has several!
86
posted on
08/26/2006 5:54:29 AM PDT
by
Mrs. P
(I am most seriously displeased. - Lady Catherine de Bourg)
To: DannyTN
You have given me some more ideas, thank you! I had thought of putting piles of dog poop (can I say poop here???) in the yard there. I have a supply.... That might help. At the very least it would give me a warm fuzzy to know they were getting their dad's car mats all messed up as they drove away!
We have already talked to the police, and they have told us to just call. We don't own the cemetery property and can't put up signs. It would be illegal to put up a barrier in the driveway at night. The churches who own the cemetery will not put in a gate or fence, although they now have installed one in the far back to keep people from driving on their newly installed water faucets. They also will not put up any significant signage - they did put up a "no trespassing" sign last year at the entrance but it's small and can't be seen at night. There is no electricity and we can't install lights even if there was, see reason number one. You mentioned night vision equipment - that reminds me of something! A few years ago I was coming home from the store after dark, and a car pulled in our drive after I had got out and was bringing groceries in. They turned out to be guys sitting in the cemetery with night vision equipment and had been watching our house and saw me pull in. Apparently the family of a person buried there whose grave had been damaged by vandals had hired them to find out who did it. They told us to call them if we saw anything go on over there but had no business card. I thought that was a bit strange. They told us the police knew they were there, but when I called the police they said they had no idea what was going on and would check it out.
Back a few years ago, there was an officer at night who would sit and do his paperwork in the back of the place, and he discouraged a lot of the stuff that went on there. He also made a couple of good drug arrests, one was a carload of kids from 15 to 18. There was also a body found back there one time about 15 years ago or so.
I never realized cemeteries were such hotbeds of social activity. I would never again buy any property anywhere near a cemetery!
87
posted on
08/26/2006 6:07:29 AM PDT
by
Mrs. P
(I am most seriously displeased. - Lady Catherine de Bourg)
To: Mrs. P
That is a strange story about the guys with night vision equipment. At least it was a few years ago, so nothing came of it.
On lights, all you can do is your own property, without permission. But you can point flood lights anywhere. However, the electric company might install street lights on their poles near your property, if you are willing to pay for them. Of course that all gets into expense.
88
posted on
08/26/2006 7:38:02 AM PDT
by
DannyTN
To: Chena
Thank you for the idea for the sign, I really like that.
89
posted on
08/26/2006 11:06:09 AM PDT
by
Mrs. P
(I am most seriously displeased. - Lady Catherine de Bourg)
To: Mrs. P
Hi Mrs. P-
Good luck with the teenager problem at the cemetery located near your house. I would start with a battery of extremely powerful spotlamps mounted on your house pointed at the cemetery. When the noise level rises, the lights go on and the police get called. They would also be useful if you hear people in your yard and you wish for saturation illumination.
~ Blue Jays ~
90
posted on
08/27/2006 9:55:30 PM PDT
by
Blue Jays
(Rock Hard, Ride Free)
To: Mrs. P; DannyTN
Hi All-
I should have read the three follow-up responses to see that extensive lighting was already suggested before making my comment above! The important idea to bear in mind is that it should be at "shock and awe" brightness to have real impact.
~ Blue Jays ~
91
posted on
08/27/2006 10:00:01 PM PDT
by
Blue Jays
(Rock Hard, Ride Free)
To: frogjerk
I only wish a car full of cheerleaders would harass me.
92
posted on
08/27/2006 10:02:57 PM PDT
by
LukeL
To: Teflonic
A local talk show revealed some interesting background to this story not otherwise carried by the media. According to several callers to WTVN 610 AM, many who claimed to be classmates and neighbors of the shooter, this story has a long history and several generations dating back to the 1950s. Several callers claim to have been among those that have gone "haunting" over the many years.
The family moved there in 1950 and immediately did not fit in. They intentionally kept the outside of the house looking much like it does today, with its "haunting look". Starting way back then, this family has been harassed and picked on by school kids. Knocking on the windows and causing the "Witch" to come out screaming.
Reports are that as a child, Davis was abused so much by classmates, that as a high schooler, his mother walked him to school for his protection. I'm sure that did wonders for his self-esteem.
An easy target, his household became a "tradition" for each class at the two Worthington high schools, carrying over multiple generations. Keep in mind, that according to the report, the father of the girl knew what they were doing, where they were going and apparently did not deem it a problem.
Throughout the whole afternoon of callers to 610 AM, there was one nut job that gave Davis the green light for what he did, totally missing the point of the difference between lawfully protecting your life (or your families) vs protecting property, and further missing the point that the girls were on a public street at the time of the shooting, nearly all the other callers cast at least some of the blame at the feet of the girls. One person was quoted of having the only sane comment throughtout the investigation, "this is an incident where everyone involved behaved in an incorrect fashion."
Dirk Thompson, the WTVN host had an excellent point. If this family had been made up of people of color, there's no way the police and media would have turned a deaf ear to this family's pleas for help in stopping the harrassment. The nightly baninging on doors and windows as well as vandalizing the outside of t he house would have been stopped.
Davis is a fool for doing what he did and he will likely pay dearly for his actions. However, cruel behavior by those who seek out the weak and odd amongst us has its own reward.
"Why just look at him. He must be guilty."
93
posted on
08/27/2006 10:37:05 PM PDT
by
tang-soo
(Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks - Read Daniel Chapter 9)
To: HeartlandOfAmerica
I just have to say that first of all the "victim" is the neice of a former friend of mine from high school and while I don't condon randomly shooting into the street and I am not saying she asked for it but is it possible that he had takin these attacks for too long and had enough. Secondly I know the family and the former friend I spoke of was obsessed with graveyards and haunted houses in Wintersville Ohio so I'm not so sure the teen did nothing wrong, But her family is sure making her a maryter
94
posted on
10/11/2006 2:12:53 PM PDT
by
ncgemini
To: ncgemini
O RLY?
95
posted on
10/11/2006 2:16:15 PM PDT
by
evets
(beer)
To: evets
96
posted on
10/11/2006 5:07:22 PM PDT
by
ncgemini
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