KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Platte County Prosecutor's Office ruled the fatal shooting of a man inside a Platte County house was justified.
The woman who shot and killed Joshua Hinderliter on Sept. 18 will not face charges, according to a news release Friday from the Platte County Prosecutor's Office.
Hinderliter was shot after he got inside the woman's home and ran toward her.
"After carefully reviewing the circumstances of this shooting, it is clear that this woman's use of deadly force was justified," Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd stated in the news release. "The woman was alone at her home with her four-year-old child. A man rushed toward her and entered her home while she was there alone with her 4-year-old child. It is fortunate she was able to defend herself and her child, and they were not hurt in this terrifying incident."
Hinderliter, whom the woman did not know, was on the woman's property at about 9 a.m. in the 15000 block of Masonic Drive.
According to Zahnd, the woman saw Hinderliter, who did not have on a shirt and was acting strangely.
He tried to ride a pony, overturned the pony's water tank and shocked himself when he grabbed an electric gate.
Hinderliter got mad, ripped off the gate and threw it, according to the news release.
The woman called her husband and he called 911.
The woman got a gun from a locked gun safe and heard Hinderliter shaking the home's front door.
She also heard the dog crying out and she said she was afraid Hinderliter was trying to kill the dog, the release states.
He moved to the driveway and the woman opened the door, told him she had a gun and to leave.
Instead of leaving, Hinderliter raised his arms over his head, spoke incoherently and ran at the woman.
She shot at him several times, but he still kept coming.
The woman went into the home and Hinderliter followed her.
She shot at him several times before she left her house and went to a neighbor's home, according to the release.
Hinderliter's body was inside the home.
"The law allows people to use lethal force to protect themselves or another person from death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony," Zahnd said. "This woman reasonably believed a man she did not know who rushed toward her and into her home might hurt or kill her or her four-year-old child. While Mr. Hinderliter's death is unfortunate, this woman had every right to defend herself and her child."
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