The police report on a Christmas Day incident near Fayetteville almost sounds like the script of a Coen brothers film.
Whatever happened during the early morning hours in and around the home of Mickle Joe Shaffer, it was not the kind of peace, love and joy we normally associate with Christmas.
The courts will have to sort out the true facts of this case, but initial police reports offer an opportunity to comment on the broad principles surrounding stand-your-ground laws and defensive gun uses.
First, you have a right to use a gun to protect yourself -- especially against those who intrude upon your home or vehicle. Thanks in part to the legislative efforts of Scott Perry, formerly a Republican state House member and now York County's U.S. House representative, you also have a right to "stand your ground" against threats outside those confines.
When Rep. Perry's bill was under consideration, many warned that it could result in murky, difficult cases, and the Fayetteville incident certainly qualifies.
According to state police, Mr. Shaffer told police he picked up an intruder's assault rifle, loaded it with his own ammunition and followed the intruder outside, eventually shooting him in the back.
According to a news story:
One of Shaffer's visitors, Terry L. Fulton, 36, allegedly got into an altercation with the would-be robber and was shot three times. Fulton was taken to York Hospital for treatment.
The intruder, later identified as Janorris Hughes, 21, then fled the scene, leaving the gun behind, state police said.
In court documents, Shaffer told police he found the rifle and brought it into his home. When he realized it was a .22-caliber rifle, he loaded his own rounds into the gun, grabbed a flashlight and set out to find Hughes.
Shaffer told police when he found Hughes, he yelled for the man to freeze. But as Hughes reached for his waistband -- which Shaffer thought indicated a weapon -- Shaffer fired, court documents state.
Hughes tried to run up the embankment behind the house, only to slide back down and lay still as Shaffer said he called 911, around 6:15 a.m.
That's about an hour after Hughes reportedly entered the home in the first place, police said.
As Hughes fled the home, so did Fulton, Shaffer told police, and Fulton was found at the Rutter's Farm Store at 6837 Lincoln Way East, where he had crashed into a pole. While emergency medical services were taking Fulton to the hospital, police received Shaffer's call about the attempted robbery. When troopers arrived at Shaffer's house, they found Hughes deceased outside.
Police interviewed the rest of the people who were at the house, and they reportedly told police the same story about Hughes leaving the residence after the attempted robbery, and seeing Shaffer come back inside with the rifle. According to the affidavit, they told police that they saw Shaffer load the rifle with his own rounds, and heard him say, "I'll shoot that (expletive) with his own rifle."
The witnesses told police they saw Shaffer go outside with the rifle and flashlight and, about 30 minutes later, heard him shout, "I've got him trapped!"
The witnesses also told police they saw Hughes trying to climb the embankment, saw Shaffer pointing the gun at his back, then heard the gunshot.
Shaffer, 54, of the 1000 block of Mount Cydonia Road, is in Franklin County Prison after being charged with a count of homicide and denied bail.
Many online commenters offered support for Mr. Shaffer, saying the alleged robber got what he deserved.
But this is hardly a standard stand-your-ground case.
Lawmakers' intent with the law was not to allow people to "hunt" intruders after they've fled -- if indeed that's truly what happened here -- nor to shoot a fleeing suspect in the back.
Key elements of a stand-your-ground defense are that a person can use deadly force if "immediately necessary" to protect against death or serious injury from an attacker, and the defender must actually see an attacker displaying or using a gun or a replica.
In this case, the shooting of the intruder reportedly took place about a half hour after the incident, and witnesses quoted in court documents don't say the intruder pointed a gun at Mr. Shaffer before being shot.
Again, the courts will have to sort this mess out.
But those who own or carry weapons for self-defense should look on this case as a cautionary tale.
The stand your ground law does not sanction taking the law into your own hands.