PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Florida State’s Attorney’s Office and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office plan to review a hotel shooting to determine whether a clerk was justified in using deadly force under the state’s self-defense or stand-your-ground laws.
Stephen Ballard, 37, was shot early Sunday morning during a physical altercation with a Quality Inn hotel clerk who later told law enforcement that Ballard had been disturbing customers and refusing to leave hotel property before initiating a physical fight with the clerk.
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The clerk shot Ballard, who was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Amber Southard, a spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, told the Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that a warrant had been issued for Ballard’s arrest, charging him with battery.
However, she noted, “He has not been arrested yet, because he is still in the hospital.”
The sheriff’s office received a report of a gunshot victim at 4:20 a.m. EST Sunday at the Quality Inn located at 3 N. New Warrington Road.
“The clerk said Ballard had been bothering people in their rooms and knocking on doors,” Southard said.
The clerk told law enforcement that he asked Ballard to leave the property, but Ballard refused and attacked him, she added.
“The clerk pulled a gun to defend himself,” Southard noted.
Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said his office will work with police to assess whether the clerk’s use of deadly force was justifiable under Florida’s stand-your-ground laws.
“The individual who fired the weapon would be justified in using deadly force if the circumstance justified that use of deadly force,” he told the Pensacola News Journal.
Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.
Source : USAToday
