The Blackfalds RCMP will not be charging an Alberta homeowner who shot and killed an intruder after being attacked with a baseball bat.
The decision was made following an investigation by the RCMP Major Crimes Unit and in consultation with the Crown prosecutor’s office.
The homeowner has not been identified and wishes to remain anonymous.
According to an interview with Postmedia, the incident began on Friday July 30th when a man began beating on the family homes front door while the homeowner’s 17 year old son and 13 year old daughter were home alone while the homeowner was out camping at around 4:30pm.
The kids then called a family friend, who called police. RCMP arrived and removed the man, who appeared to be on drugs, from the property and warned him not to return. The homeowner was not made aware of this incident until several hours later.
The man then returned the following morning at 4:30 AM and started pounding on the front door with a concrete planter. Again, RCMP were called and removed him from the property, but did not hold him in custody or charge him. The homeowner raced back to Penhold and began to fix the door, and took their daughter back to the campsite and the son to a friend’s house.
The homeowner returned to the property on Monday afternoon and noticed that the gate was open. He grabbed a shotgun that he took with him camping and began to clear the house. The assailant was sleeping in his bed and the homeowner yelled at him to get on the floor. The man did not comply and suddenly hit him with the baseball bat in the side of the head and several more times in the back.
The homeowner used the shotgun to deflect the blows as the assailant sat over top of him and repeatedly stuck him. He then turned the safety off and shot him point blank with the shotgun, ending the incident.
“You know, one thing I do feel good about is I did everything I could to not pull that trigger to the point of being beaten with a bat repeatedly. I’ve learned that, like me, he has a 13-year-old daughter. That’s made it a lot worse for me knowing he had a daughter and I took her father away,” he said during the interview.
