Man acted in self-defense in fatal shooting at Carmichael apartment, deputies say

CARMICHAEL — A shooter faces no charges after a man was shot and killed inside an apartment overnight in Sacramento County, deputies said.

Deputies went to the Sutter Crossing Apartments, in the 5900 block of Sutter Avenue in Carmichael, where they said they received a report from a man that someone had entered his room and assaulted him while he was sleeping.

The man who called said he took a gun and shot the person inside the apartment, police said.

“Around 2 a.m. we received a call from someone in an apartment saying he had shot someone who had entered his home,” said Sergeant Amar Gandhi of the County Sheriff's Office. Sacramento County.

The caller told police that a woman who was there with the man, who was her boyfriend, identified the person shot as her ex-boyfriend. The man who was shot died instantly.

“The new boyfriend had a gun, legally obtained, registered in his name, and he actually shot the ex-boyfriend,” Gandhi said.

Gandhi said the new boyfriend and girlfriend are cooperating with the investigation. They didn't arrest anyone because Gandhi said investigators determined it was a case of self-defense.

“If this man was faced with a deadly threat that he did not initiate in any way, then he has the right to defend himself and kill this intruder,” said local attorney Michael Wise.

Wise said that in California you are able to stand your ground and inside your home you have even more self-defense protections.

Gandhi said the gun used was legal and registered to the man who pulled the trigger, but even if it hadn't been, Wise said it still would have been justified.

“Ironically, you can still be charged with illegal possession of a firearm if you are not allowed to possess one, but the use of deadly force to defend yourself is still justified even if you use a weapon that does not “is not registered in California or you are not allowed to own one,” Wise said.

Investigators could not provide details on whether the ex-boyfriend had ever been violent toward the girl in the past.

He has not been identified.