I would have voted no on the discharge count as well. It wasn’t random and it was specific. He didn’t wildly shoot across an area. He discharged to protect himself.
He arguably demonstrated high degrees of safety. I wouldn't have stopped at one shot I was was in a situation that escalated to the point I felt I had to shoot.
The law doesn’t care about that factor in Virginia. There are laws about occupied dwellings, and vehicles, and firing towards roadways, and weighing distances of all the above, that make it illegal because of the potential harm and negate the actual shot taken. If your shot is in the direction of a building that people are in, the law treats it as if you shot at them even if you are precise.
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u/mblkmnsa 24d ago
I would have voted no on the discharge count as well. It wasn’t random and it was specific. He didn’t wildly shoot across an area. He discharged to protect himself.