A South Jersey resident acted within the law when he fatally shot a man who had entered his apartment, stripped naked, and advanced on him, authorities say.
The determination followed an investigation into the death of Kevin Schmalz, 28, of Mays Landing, who was shot in Hamilton on March 2, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
It said a tenant at the Hamilton Greene apartment complex made a 911 call reporting a burglar in his home at approximately 7:20 a.m.
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The tenant said he had the intruder at gunpoint, and the man “was standing at the bottom of his stairs undressing,” the prosecutor’s office said.
The tenant, whose name was not released, also said he’d fired a warning shot but Schmalz stripped naked and continued up the stairs.
The resident fired again. Schmalz, shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation found Schmalz had become disoriented “either before or after being involved in a nearby motor vehicle accident.”
Schmalz was apparently trying to walk to his brother’s home in the Hamilton Greene complex, when he fell into a creek with the temperature below 20 degrees, the prosecutor’s account said.
“This was confirmed by his clothing being wet upon police arrival,” it said.
The account also noted the tenant had not locked his front door.
Schmalz worked as a geographic information specialist with Atlantic City Electric in Atlantic City, and held many certifications in computer fields, according to an obituary that gave his age as 30.
“Kevin loved camping, hiking, backpacking, and mountain biking,” the obituary said, noting Schmalz was also a licensed drone pilot. “He loved to box, to carve wood, and played guitar, banjo, and mandolin.”
It said Schmalz, who also had an address in Little Egg Harbor, “was known to everyone as a kindhearted, caring, and loving man.”
The shooting of Schmalz was justified under New Jersey law pertaining to self-defense and no duty to retreat in one’s own dwelling, the prosecutor’s office said.
It noted a person, unless he is the initial aggressor, has no obligation to retreat from his home if he “reasonably believes” deadly force is needed to protect against unlawful force by an intruder.
A reasonable belief exists when a person in his own home has a “sudden and unexpected ” encounter with an intruder, “compelling the person to act instantly,” the prosecutor’s office said.
It said a reasonable belief could be supported if “the person demanded that the intruder withdraw, and the intruder refused to do so.”
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
, saying That the homeowner who shot the deceased was justified underNew Jersey law pertaining to self-defense and no duty to retreat in one’s own dwelling.Under New Jersey law, a person is not obligated to retreat from his dwelling, unless he was theinitial aggressor, when the person reasonably believes that deadly force is immediately necessaryfor the purpose of protecting himself or other people in the dwelling against the use of unlawfulforce by the intruder on the present occasion.A reasonable belief exists when the person, to protect himself or others, was in his own dwellingat the time of the offense and the encounter between the person and the intruder was suddenand unexpected, compelling the person to act instantly and, the person reasonably believed thatthe intruder would inflict personal injury upon the person or others in the dwelling or, the persondemanded that the intruder withdraw, and the intruder refused to do so
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Prosecutor: Fatal shooting of Kevin Schmalz did not violate the law