Deputies: Teen acted in self-defense in fatal shooting outside Escambia County home

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Sunday’s fatal shooting of a 60-year-old man in Escambia County is now being investigated as a “Stand Your Ground” case.

Escambia County deputies say the teen shooter will not be charged at this time, as investigators believe he was acting in self-defense. The State Attorney’s Office is investigating and will make the final ruling.

The shooting happened around 5 p.m. in the 500-block of Corrydale Drive near Quigley Road.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons says the 60-year-old man thought the pair of young men were trespassing and yelled at them to leave. But Simmons says the passenger lived in the home and both were preparing to go fishing.

At one point, Sheriff Simmons says, the man stuck his arm into the car — grabbing the driver by his throat and choking him. Fearing for his life, Sheriff Simmons says the teen shot the man.

A neighbor says she saw it all unfold in the driveway of a home.

The woman — who didn’t want to share her name or show her face — said the man pulled up to the home, blocking the driveway.

She says he then went up to a car with young men in it and started arguing with them. She couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying.

The woman says he then pulled out into the street — only to run back to the car, screaming at them.

“I was looking to see if he had something in his hands, you know, for a weapon,” the woman said. “And he didn’t have anything in his hands. And they put the window down in the car, and he had his arm in the car — and then I heard [two] shots.”

The woman says the man fell down to the ground and her first thought was to go help him. But she knew it was too late.

The sheriff’s office hasn’t identified the man shot and killed.