SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA – A man who forcibly entered a home was fatally shot by the homeowner, according to police. SPD responded to the reported shooting at a residence on James H. Young Street around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
The occupants told officers that someone kicked in the back door and entered the residence. The homeowner then confronted the intruder and gunshots were fired. The intruder was shot at least once in the neck and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he later died. The Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as Damion Quintel Henderson, 29, of Spartanburg.
Neither of the home’s occupants were injured and no charges have been filed. The investigation is ongoing, and is being reviewed by the Spartanburg Police Department, the Spartanburg County Solicitor’s Office, and the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office.
South Carolina is one of twenty-three states that have a “Castle Doctrine”, which gives legal authority to occupants to use lethal force against an intruder, with no duty to retreat. Castle doctrine laws vary from state to state, and South Carolina’s is a bit unique. Unlike “self-defense” which can prevent a person from being prosecuted but still leaves them open to legal suits, South Carolina’s castle doctrine provides complete immunity from both, meaning that a person acting within the legal bounds specified is not only immune from criminal prosecution, but also cannot be named as the defendant in a civil lawsuit brought about on behalf of the injured or deceased criminal.
