Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons confirmed that the man was well within his rights to defend his sister and himself. “If someone points a gun at you and cocks it, you can shoot them.”
It was last Tuesday when deputies were called to a residence in the Silver Lake Mobile Home Park over a shooting. They arrived to find an unidentified 26-year-old male dead from a gunshot wound.
According to investigators, the deceased was the ex-boyfriend of an unidentified 24-year-old woman who lived at the address. They reported that the assailant broke the victim’s door down, intruded on her home and struck her several times.
The woman was able to grab her phone and message neighbors, including her 23-year-old brother. He rushed to the scene and confronted the ex-boyfriend. Sheriff’s investigators say this is when the attacker produced a handgun, pointed it at her brother and cocked it.
The brother was also armed, and he fired two shots at the suspect, killing him.
The sheriff’s office confirmed the victim’s brother will not face charges, and the State Attorney’s Office told WEAR News that Florida recently enhanced its laws to allow for more forceful self-defense by residents.
Assistant State Attorney John Molchan reported, “‘Stand Your Ground’ has expanded to the area of the castle. We used to have the ‘Castle Doctrine,’ which said that your home was your castle and that you could use deadly force to defend yourself from a murderer or a person committing a forcible felony.”
It is obvious that the brother is nothing less than a hero. When an abusive and armed ex breaks through a door and physically attacks a woman, the response must be at least equally forceful. In this instance, it was.
