NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Prosecutors in Tennessee have dropped charges against a man who claimed self-defense in a fatal shooting that set off pandemonium inside a mall in Nashville.
Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Jenny Charles tells The Tennessean that 22-year-old Justin Golson’s actions were justified under the law.
Golson originally was charged with criminal homicide. Charles says she dropped the charges after reviewing video surveillance and social media messages that corroborated claims Golson was backing away from the confrontation with his hands raised and that threats were made against him.
Police say Golson and 22-year-old Demarco Churchwell were fighting inside the Opry Mills Mall when Churchwell was shot May 3.
The shooting provoked an outsized police response in the city where a gunman killed several people at a Waffle House less than two weeks before.
