A St. Patrick’s Day party turned deadly in Cleveland when a 29-year-old ex-boyfriend violated a protection order and came looking for his ex-girlfriend about 7:00 AM. The party was still going from the previous evening when the ex showed up. He first got into an argument with another man that turned into a fight outside the home. That man eventually went back inside the house and locked the door, but the ex tried to follow and kicked the door several times.
It was then that an 18-year-old man that was not involved with the fight outside fired a single shot through the door, hitting the ex in the back. He died at a nearby hospital.
It’s not known for sure if the 18-year-old knew of the ex’s violent physical attack on his girlfriend only a month earlier or if he knew of the ex’s multiple convictions for illegal weapons possessions. If he did, one could imagine how that might affect his level of fear of the ex making it through the door.
The 18-year-old gave a statement to the police with his attorney. He was not arrested, and the case is being investigated as a possibly justified shooting under Ohio’s Castle Doctrine law.
Most of you reading this already know this man’s mistake, and that, of course, is shooting through the door. It’s tough to make the case that someone is an immediate deadly force threat on the other side of a locked door. Worse yet, his being shot in the back could be taken as evidence that he had given up and was leaving. Of course, we don’t know what was being said through the door at the time, but whatever threats he may have made, he was still on the other side of the door.
The 18-year-old did make the right move by having an attorney with him when he spoke to the police. No charges were immediately filed. Perhaps given the ex’s violent past, weapons convictions, and violating the protection order, they will choose not to file charges.
