WORTHINGTON, Ohio (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, 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.
"It's really something how homeowners defend themselves and the way the laws are written. We're the ones brought up on charges while the perpetrators get little or nothing," Davis said.
Francis said Davis told investigators he had never called police about any problems with trespassers.