Everything About This Is Terrible

[Content Note: Guns; violence.]

A man shot who he thought was an intruder, but was actually his 16-year-old daughter coming home after sneaking out (she survived):

Investigators said the confusion happened in the 400 block of Lily's Way around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday when the girl's father was getting ready for work.

According to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office in Virginia, the father has been identified as Deputy Easton McDonald, with the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. They stated he did not fire his on-duty weapon.

"The homeowner, he has an alarm system inside what I call is 'audible,' in that it tells you what door is being opened," said Lang.

McDonald's alarm system, another safety precaution, told him the garage had just been opened.

"When he went to go investigate what had set off the alarm, he heard some banging and rustling around in the garage," said Lang. "At that particular point, he obtained a firearm that he had there in the kitchen area."

The rustling wasn't an intruder, but his teenage daughter.

"Later on, it was determined that the daughter had snuck out hours earlier that morning, and was attempting to sneak back into the home," said Lang.

Lack of visibility in the garage, and the feeling that someone was "coming at him" led McDonald to fire the gun, hitting his daughter in her torso.

Within moments, he realized his mistake, and rushed her to Winchester Medical Center. However, in the hurry and chaos, McDonald accidentally wrecked his car at Cork Street and East Lane in Winchester while attempting to transport his daughter to the hospital.

Winchester Fire and Rescue were able to safely transport the girl the rest of the way there, where she remains in stable condition.

What a clusterfuck.

I hope she is able to make a speedy and complete physical recovery, and I hope she'll have access to whatever resources she needs to process what happened.

I don't know what could more effectively underline the problems with laws that empower people to justifiably shoot someone just because they feel unsafe than the fact that even a cop shot his own daughter in their home, because he had a "feeling that someone was coming at him."

The most pointed problem with "Stand Your Ground" and/or castle doctrine laws is that people who feel unsafe, irrespective of whether they have a legitimate reason to feel unsafe, implicitly have their fears justified. The laws intrinsically convey people are trying to hurt you and there's something scary out there and you should feel afraid, always afraid. So, ironically, these laws do not in any way encourage feelings of safety and security in fearful people. They entrench fear.

And that makes the world a very dangerous place for the people they're afraid of.

[Related Reading: On Sitting with Fear.]