RALEIGH, N.C. – A legally armed North Carolina woman acted in self-defense when she shot and killed a male perpetrator during a road rage incident at a grocery store parking lot in Raleigh last week, the Wake County district attorney declared.
“I think what’s really important here for people to understand is that provision in our law is not an invitation to vigilante justice, but it does allow when someone has a reasonable fear for imminent death or bodily injury that you’re allowed to protect yourself,” Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said.
Steven McLamb, 49, was fatally shot outside a Food Lion located at the Greystone Village Shopping Center in Raleigh last Tuesday after 5 p.m., reported ABC 11.
McLamb was the aggressor in the altercation, according to authorities who reviewed footage of the shooting. They said the man tried to pry open the woman’s car doors before she fired at him.
“Mr. McLamb was the aggressor,” Freeman noted. “He followed the other individual into the parking lot, and upon getting out of his car – approaching her car and attempting to get into her car – she, acting in self-defense, shot and killed him.”
According to local media reports, the deadly confrontation began as a road rage encounter. Freeman said law enforcement officers were able to review different videos from the scene and interview witnesses during the investigation.
“We were fortunate to have access to various video. Also, there were witnesses in the area that were able to give a pretty clear image as to what happened here,” Freeman said.
The woman involved in the shooting has not been identified. Officials confirmed she legally owns the firearm and has no prior criminal history, Fox News reported.
North Carolina law allows individuals “to use force to protect themselves when there is a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm,” Freeman told the News & Observer.
McLamb died at a nearby hospital following the shooting.
