North Carolina shooting victim was hit accidentally when partygoer returned fire, officials say

NEWTON, N.C. (AP) — A man killed in a shooting at a western North Carolina house party earlier this month that left 11 other people injured was inadvertently shot by a partygoer returning fire at shooters on a nearby hillside, authorities said Tuesday.

Officials won’t pursue criminal charges against the person responsible for the death of Shawn Hood, 58, of Lenoir, said spokesperson Maj. Aaron Turk with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office.

“In North Carolina laws concerning self-defense are clear. Our investigation has shown that the person responsible for Mr. Hood’s death was not intending to target Mr. Hood, but again, was targeting the hillside shooters,” Turk said at a news conference. “As such and at this time there’s not going to be any charges pursued criminally against the person responsible for Mr. Hood’s death.”

Authorities have said more than 80 shots were fired shortly after midnight on June 1 in a crime scene that spanned several properties. It began with a “premeditated and seemingly unprovoked attack” by the shooters on the hillside and then partygoers who were scattered around the property returning fire, according to Turk.

Eleven people, including Hood, were shot, and a 12th person was injured while trying to flee, Turk said. Investigators have said both adults and young people were among the scores of attendees at the house party in a residential neighborhood roughly 55 miles (88 kilometers) northwest of Charlotte. Hood was the oldest of the victims, who ranged in age from as young as 16, the sheriff’s office has said.

Using facial recognition technology, investigators determined that more than 100 people were at the party at different points, but there were 63 people in the line of fire from the shooters on the hillside, Turk said.

Authorities also announced indictments Tuesday charging six men with one count each of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and 63 counts each of attempted first-degree murder. A seventh person, a woman, is charged with four counts of accessory after the fact to attempted first-degree murder.

Investigators have information that indicates that the men have gang affiliations and while there were gang motivations behind the attack, Turk said those weren’t the only motivations. He said there was some “individualized animosity” against one or more of the people attending the party, but he said investigators learned there was a plan to shoot up the party “in its entirety.”