A Nevada man will not face prosecution for fatally shooting his adult son earlier this week, with local authorities characterizing the father’s actions as “justified.”
According to a statement from the Mesquite Police, the unidentified father shot his son just before 1 a.m. Monday morning.
The statement indicates the father fired upon his son, whose identity will be released at a later date, because he was trying to prevent him from killing his wife — the deceased man’s mother.
“Mesquite Police received a report of a father who was forced to shoot his adult son who had threatened to kill his mother with a knife,” the statement reads. “Officers arrived on scene and located the adult male who had been shot, lying on the floor unconscious and breathing.”
EMTs tried to save the shot man’s life at the scene, and transported him to Mesa View Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“Mesquite detectives initiated a thorough investigation into this incident,” according to the statement. “They learned the male recently had a noticeable decline in his mental state, along with heavy alcohol and mind-altering drug use.”
It continues: “The now-deceased male had initiated a loud and violent argument with his mother while wielding a knife in his hand. She told him if he didn’t stop, she was going to call 911. He then pulled her off the chair where she was seated to take the phone from her, and made threats to both his mother and father. The male was holding the knife in an aggressive manner directly over top his mother, who feared for her life.”
The father “believed the male was about to stab his mother so he was forced to shoot him to save her life,” reads the statement. “Based on the totality of the circumstances the Mesquite Police Department believes the father’s actions were justified in stopping the attack by his son.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
Had the son survived, he would have been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, the statement notes.