Homeowner fatally shoots armed intruder in Kanawha County; investigation underway

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va (WCHS) — Law enforcement were on Lick Branch Road in Kanawha County for most of Friday after they said a man fatally shot an armed intruder on his property.

“It is very scary,” said Mindy Nichols who near where the shooting happened. “You’re out here in the country. People are kind and then this happens. I don’t know. It just kind of startles you.”

It was just after 12:30 p.m. when police said the homeowner arrived to his property where he was met with the armed suspect who did not live there inside of his home.

“That individual came to the door and met the homeowner at the doorway and the individual had several weapons on him,” said Sgt. Joshua Lester with the Kanawha County Sheriffs Department. “A fight ensued between the two and the homeowner pulled a firearm and fatally shot the intruder that was in his home.”

Police said the homeowner was working on his property, which is not his primary residence when he was met with an intruder on the porch who was armed with a baseball bat and a knife. Police said the struggle moved from the porch down into the yard, where the homeowner pulled a gun and shot the other man.

“We’ll have to kind of retrace all the steps. They’ll have to find where the firearm was fired,” Lester said. “They’ll have to find all of the discharge from that and any evidence that pertains to that, the weapons that were involved. They’ll look at that. They’ll look at the placements of where that evidence fell versus injuries to the victim as well as the suspect.”