No One Deserves to Die for Pulling Into the Wrong Driveway

Last week, news broke that 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis had died from a gunshot wound. According to CBS News, she and three other friends were trying to find a friend’s house in upstate New York and accidentally pulled into the wrong driveway. They realized their mistake and were in the process of leaving when 65-year-old Kevin Monahan came onto the porch and started shooting at the car. Gillis was hit, and by the time she was able to get medical attention, it was too late.

Racing Tech | How Formula E’s New Front Powertrain Extends Battery Life on its Race Cars

In case you missed it:

“There was clearly no threat from anybody in the vehicle,” Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said in a statement. “There was no reason for Mr. Monahan to feel threatened.”

Monahan was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He is currently being held without bail. According to one neighbor, Monahan had gotten increasingly frustrated that people were mistakenly turning into his driveway. If it was happening frequently, it’s understandable that he’d be annoyed, but to respond with deadly force? That’s absolutely unhinged. No one deserves to die just because they accidentally pull into the wrong driveway.

What’s even scarier is that this is far from the only recent example of someone getting shot at over a small mistake. In Florida, the Broward County State Attorney’s office has opened an investigation into a shooting that took place on April 15 when an Instacart driver mistakenly turned onto the wrong property. The property owner shot at them, hitting the car at least twice, although thankfully, neither the driver nor the passenger were hit.

Last week in Texas, two teenage girls were shot after one of them mistakenly got in the wrong car. After realizing her mistake and getting back into the other car, Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr. approached their vehicle. They reportedly rolled down their window to apologize for the mistake, but instead of laughing it off as an unfortunate accident, he started shooting at them. One of the girls was critically injured after she was hit in the leg and back, but she’s now reportedly in stable condition.

And while it’s not exactly a car-related mistake, there’s also Ralph Yarl who somehow survived being shot in the head for the crime of simply ringing the wrong doorbell. Andrew Lester shot him through a locked glass door without even exchanging any words first. He’s since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

That’s a ridiculous number of shootings over small mistakes over the course of only a few weeks. And it’s absolutely unnecessary. People accidentally turn into the wrong driveway all the time. People mistake one car for another in the parking lot. People ring the wrong doorbell. The first time my girlfriend came to pick me up, she had my address and still turned into the wrong driveway.

Thankfully, my neighbor didn’t shoot her, but apparently, we live in a country where far too many people think he would have been well within his rights to do so. Driving is already dangerous enough as it is. It’s absolutely insane that we now also have to worry about getting killed for turning into someone’s driveway.