Key Takeaways
- A mother shot her ex-boyfriend after he broke into her home while she was on the phone with 911.
- The incident occurred at 2:15 a.m. when the man, identified as James Cameron, forced entry into the house.
- The mother reported the break-in, and first responders found the man dead inside with no injuries to her three children.
- Investigators noted signs of previous violence, supporting the mother’s claim of an imminent threat when she fired her weapon.
- The mother holds a valid Ohio concealed handgun license, highlighting the discussion around self-defense rights.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
HARRISON TOWNSHIP, OH — A 33-year-old mother shot and killed her ex-boyfriend early Wednesday after he kicked in the front door of her Fairport Avenue home and smashed a window while she was on the phone with 911 and her three children were inside, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called to the house around 2:15 a.m. after the woman told dispatchers her ex-boyfriend was trying to force his way in, as reported by CBS Pittsburgh, which identified the 34-year-old man as James Cameron.
Dispatchers stayed on the line and heard the woman yelling at the man, and then heard what investigators believed was a muffled gunshot. Seconds later she came back on the phone and told dispatch she had shot her ex-boyfriend and was leaving the house with her three kids.
First responders found the man dead inside the home. The children were there when the shooting happened and were not physically injured.
Investigators also observed signs of physical violence that had reportedly occurred during the evening before the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office. That is important investigative context, and it is not why she fired. Deadly force is justified only against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, and what is described here is a man coming through a kicked-in door and a broken window at two in the morning into a house with a mother and three children in it. That is the same standard armed citizens across the country carry under every day.
More from USA Carry:
The sheriff’s office said the woman holds a valid Ohio concealed handgun license. If you want the details on how those permits work in Ohio, I keep a state guide on Ohio concealed carry updated.
What stands out to me is that she was already on the phone with police when the door came in. She did everything the internet tells you to do. She called. She warned him. It did not stop him, and the help she called for was still minutes away. The gun in her hand was the only thing standing between an intruder and three kids, and that gap between the 911 call and the deputies arriving is the entire reason people carry.
