CANAL WINCHESTER, OHIO — A family is grieving after a father opened fire on who he thought was an intruder around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The family was alerted by their home security system that someone had entered the garage.
The intruder turned out to be their 16-year-old daughter. Whether she was coming or going wasn’t clear, but police say the shooting happened in the family’s garage.
The girl’s father can be heard in the background on the 911 call, that was made by the mother. He’s distraught and asking what his daughter was doing. Police arrived within 5 minutes of the call
There’s no other way to put it; this is a terrible tragedy that shouldn’t have happened.
Having a plan with family is important when guns are in the home. Kids need to understand what those guns are there for, and avoid things like sneaking in and out of the house because dad might believe that you’re an intruder. That’s no excuse for shooting, of course, and we also need to be aware of our target and what’s actually happening in and around our home. If it’s dark, utilizing a flashlight to visualize the target is important, and you absolutely must not pull that trigger until you’ve identified what you’re about to shoot at.
This family has a lifetime of pain to deal with now, and I wish them peace, but we must use this and other examples as learning tools so they don’t happen to another family.
