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Tucson police: Evidence at UA-area double-shooting consistent with self defense
By Alexis Huicochea
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.16.2008
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Evidence in the fatal shooting of two home invaders by a University of Arizona student appears to be consistent with his story that he was defending himself, police said.
The 23-year-old student shot and killed Shontel R. Early, 30, and Wesley O. Fenstermacher, 29, after the two men attempted to invade his home early Thursday morning, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
At least one of the invaders was armed with a gun during the incident, which occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m., said Pacheco, who gave the following account:
The student was home alone in the 800 block of East Adams Street, near North Euclid Avenue and East Speedway.
There was a knock at the door and one of the men asked for someone who did not live there.
The student looked past the man he was speaking with and saw another man, who had his face covered and was armed with a gun.
He retreated into his home and grabbed his own handgun, but the men made their way in.
The student called police to report the shooting. When officers arrived they found the men two men dead just inside the doorway.
The student was questioned and is cooperating with police. His name is not being released.
There is no indication that the student is or has been involved in any criminal activity, police said.
Pacheco could not say what the men were looking for or if they had possibly gone to the wrong house.
The case will be presented to the Pima County Attorney’s Office for a determination on whether the shootings were justified, Pacheco said.
Neighbors were alarmed by the events.
Ali Adelmann, a UA sophomore, just moved into the neighborhood this semester. “It really worries me,” the Phoenix resident said. “All we can do is keep our doors and windows locked.”
Jenny Wise also moved into the neighborhood in August. The 19-year-old sophomore said she wasn’t home at the time of the shootings. She had gone to a party and when she arrived home around 2 a.m. she found her street taped off and flooded with police.
“It’s really the scariest thing,” Wise said. “I’ve lived a sheltered life. This seems like a nice little neighborhood. I don’t know what I would’ve done if two guys tried to get into my house.”
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/crime/262693
Thank God that young man owned a gun.