An attempted burglary in Mobile, Alabama turned deadly this week after the homeowner, who happened to be armed and present, opened fire on the intruder, according to police.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting shortly after 9 p.m. local time Monday, the Mobile Police Department said in a release issued Tuesday. When they arrived, they found 37-year-old David Lee Jr. dead at the scene from a gunshot wound.
Police said Lee forced his way into the home by breaking a window and unlawfully entering the residence, where he was confronted by the male homeowner. Authorities have not publicly identified the homeowner.
Neighbors who spoke with a local Mobile-area television station said they regretted the loss of life but largely agreed the homeowner had every right to defend himself and his property. Witnesses later told the station that a biohazard cleanup crew was seen in the home’s driveway in the aftermath.
The Mobile County District Attorney’s office is now reviewing the case in light of Alabama’s stand-your-ground law, which is expected to weigh heavily in whether the homeowner faces any charges.
Alabama is one of many states with a stand-your-ground statute, meaning that if a person is somewhere they have a legal right to be and is not breaking the law, they generally are not required to retreat before using force — including deadly force — to defend themselves. The same set of laws includes the castle doctrine, under which the law typically presumes that a resident or business owner reasonably feared serious harm if someone unlawfully and forcibly breaks into their home, occupied vehicle, or business.
Under Alabama law, a person may use a reasonable amount of force, including deadly force, if they reasonably believe someone is about to use unlawful deadly force against them or another person, or is committing or about to commit certain violent crimes such as robbery, burglary, kidnapping, or forcible rape.
The case is likely to become another flashpoint in the broader national debate over self-defense laws, with gun-rights advocates pointing to the incident as a textbook example of a law-abiding citizen protecting his home from a violent intrusion.
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