LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS — Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson stated the district attorney’s office will not file charges against a resident for shooting an intruder. The shooting occurred on September 22nd at a home in the 700 block of Walnut Street.
According to police, the resident was awakened around 3 a.m. by his dogs barking. He got out of bed to investigate and heard his car door open and then shut. As he looked out the window, he saw a man he did not recognize. The man then approached the door and began kicking it while jiggling the handle. That’s when the resident retrieved his firearm.
According to officials, the resident then heard the person allegedly repeatedly scream, “Open the door,” along with an expletive. Fearing for his safety, the resident told police that’s when he fired three shots through the door, striking the man. That man was later identified as Corey Anderson, 33, of Leavenworth, who did not survive the encounter.
The resident then called 911 and exited out of the back of the house. He unloaded his firearm and waited for police. Security footage from a neighbor showed Anderson around the resident’s vehicle and then approach the porch. It did not have a clear image of the entire incident. The neighbor corroborated the dog’s barking and that the vehicle was broken into and an alarm was sounding, according to Thompson.
Thompson stated, “There is no way to show that the resident’s intent was anything more than trying to deter someone, who had just gone through his vehicle, from attempting to violently enter his home in the middle of the night and that he felt that his life was at risk. Due to all of this, we do not believe we legally and ethically can file charges.”
Thompson concluded that a reasonable person would believe they could defend themselves from the intruder.