It's almost Christmas time, and for many, it already is. I don't like it--it's turkey time first, after all--but some are ready to get the Christmas season started. That means all sorts of things.
But one Maryland man allegedly managed to give all of us a bad name.
See, I get that some of us don't want Christmas to infiltrate the rest of the year. I think it's more special within its season, versus expanding it so far beyond its original timeframe that the meaning feels diluted.
Who wants to see carolers in shorts and tank tops during the heat of August? Of course, I've never actually seen carolers going down the street to sing to their neighbors, and with stuff like this, one might imagine I never will.
Charging documents reveal details on what led a man to point a firearm at three young girls in Annapolis on Saturday night.
Police officers responded to a home in the 1700 block of Point No Point Drive in Annapolis at 9:10 p.m. after a parent alerted police that their daughter and her friends were knocking on doors in an effort to sing Christmas carols in the neighborhood when a neighbor, identified as Paul Brian Susie, 58, pulled a gun on them.
According to charging documents, the victims, who are all 12 years old, told police that when they knocked on Brian's door to announce they were there for Christmas caroling, Susie came to the bay window to the left of the door with his handgun drawn and pointed it directly at them, prompting the victims to run to the 500 block of Choptank Cove Court.
Susie admits to having a gun and pointing it at the girls.
Now, let's understand that I understand answering the door at 9:00 at night with a gun. I don't answer my door in the dark of night without one, either. It's just something my family expects.
I don't point it at people just because they knocked at my door, though. Knocking is something people do, and while it might be annoying, it's harmless. Susie admits to pointing a gun at three 12-year-old girls during prime time television hours, which means there was little to no reason to even be overly suspicious of the knock.
This wasn't a ding-dong ditch situation. They knocked and were apparently standing there, only for an older guy to point a .40-caliber Glock at them.
And from what I can see on Google Street View, that's not exactly a rough neighborhood. While an unexpected knock on the door could well be someone with nefarious intentions, 12-year-old girls are probably not your average gang-banger, nor something so unexpected that violence should be threatened.
Thank you, Paul Brian Susie. What you've admitted you did has managed to make all of us look bad.
You also managed to look like a total tool because you were apparently afraid for your life from the dangerous threat of three 12-year-old girls. Way to go, Champ.
Look, again, I get having a gun to answer the door at night. I get being concerned about an unexpected visitor out of the blue after dark. I don't get pointing it at people who are clearly no threat to you.
It's entirely possible that as this works its way through the courts, we might get some kind of justification for this. I'd love to hear it, personally, because I can't imagine what a good reason for this might be. Well, alright, I kind of can think of a situation where he pointed the gun but didn't mean to point it at the girls, using the gun to move a curtain or something, but even then, it's stupid, and you shouldn't do that.
After a series of shootings earlier this year involving people knocking at the door or just crossing a property line, this is the last thing anyone needs to see.
