A legally armed woman in North Carolina acted in self-defense when she fatally shot a man during a road rage incident at a grocery store parking lot, according to the local district attorney.
"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 told ABC 11.
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. Authorities who reviewed footage of the scene say McLamb was the aggressor in the altercation who tried to pry open the woman's car doors before she fired at him.
"Mr. McLamb was the aggressor," Freeman said. "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."
The altercation began as a road rage incident, according to local media reports. Freeman said law enforcement officers were able to review various footage of the scene and interview witnesses amid the investigation.
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"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, who has not been identified, legally owns the firearm and has no prior criminal history, the DA said.
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Under North Carolina law, individuals are permitted "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 was taken to a local hospital after the shooting, but he died from his injuries.