Don't Open the Door

This sounds like self-defense to me, but there is an old truism; you can't lose a fight you don't have. Man dead, police investigating self-defense claim after shooting in South Nashville, TN

According to authorities, an investigation found that the 48-year-old man victim arrived at an apartment and repeatedly knocked on the door asking to speak with a woman he knew.

A 60-year-old man who reportedly lives at the apartment with his girlfriend answered the door and asked the victim to leave.

He didn't leave. He kept knocking and eventually there was a "fight" between the 48-year-old and the woman.

According to police, the woman’s boyfriend said he saw the other man reach for an item in his waistband, at which point the 60-year-old shot the victim once.

It turned out to be a BB gun, but even so this will probably be determined to be self-defense, or that is my guess anyway. The police are certainly treating it like self-defense.

But why open the door?

Hat tip to Miguel Gonzalez: Never Break Perimeter.

Keep the door closed. If the person does not leave, don’t open, don’t engage him, call the cops and wait for them to remove the offender. In less self-defense civilized parts of the country, you could get yourself in trouble if the local prosecutor wants to make a stink by saying you instigated the outcome by interacting and opening the door.