Fatal N. Mpls. Shooting Could Be Ruled Self Defense
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A deadly shooting in Minneapolis committed by a 21-year-old man who had a permit to carry could be ruled a justified case of self-defense.
Earl Malone, 18, was shot and killed just after 11 p.m. Saturday night in the back of a home near Knox Avenue and 26th Avenue in north Minneapolis.
The man arrested at the scene told police Malone was trying to rob him when he shot him.
If this does, in fact, turn out to be a justified fatal shooting by a permit holder it would be incredibly rare.
State records show there have only been five reported cases of permit holders using a gun to prevent a crime since the law went into effect in 2003.
The makeshift memorial for Malone has all the markers that have become far too familiar, images of a smiling young man, balloons and tributes to a young life cut way too short.
But sources tell WCCO that the man who shot Malone said he was acting in self-defense, claiming Malone was trying to rob him.
Sources tell WCCO that police found a handgun on Malone's body.
Malone's family pastor says the family has gotten little information from police and are having a hard time beleiving that Malone was robbing someone.
"The family is devastated," Pastor Harding Smith said. "It's still an open investigation. The family tells me that this was an outstanding young man."
The man was arrested and then released Monday from the Hennepin County Jail.
Sources tell WCCO that so far there is no evidence to dispute his version of what happened.
The number of permit holders in Minneosta has grown steadily. According to state records at the end of 2013, 161,536 Minnesotans had permits to carry.
Malone's family had scheduled a vigil for Thursday night at the site of the shooting, but have decided to cancel it.
"The family moved from Chicago to get away from all that, and to come here and raise their family. And to have something like this happen is very, very devastating," Smith said.
WCCO did reach out to the permit holder who did the shooting and did not hear back.
As we told you state records document only five other cases were a permit holder lawfully used a weapon to break up a crime.
But the records do not indicate how many of those shootings were deadly.