Garner police confirm Colton Valdez was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Walmart on Fayetteville Road on Tuesday.
Valdez's family said he got into an argument with the man who killed him. They said the man was cursing and yelling at Valdez's mom as she tried to back out of a parking spot; that's when Valdez confronted him.
During that confrontation, Valdez pulled out a BB gun. The other man saw the weapon, pulled out his own handgun and opened fire.
The shooter stayed on scene and cooperated with police in the investigation.
Wake County District Attorney's Office determined the shooting was justified. They said the man who killed Valdez believed the BB gun was a real gun that threatened his life; therefore, he had a right to protect himself under the law. Because of that, the man was released and will not face criminal charges.
The Valdez family told ABC11 they are upset with the decision and still have a lot of questions for investigators.
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"Garner cops say the reason they're gonna be able to say self-defense is faulty camerawork, the cameras at the front door here they say were so foggy they couldn't make anything out - but they had clips of different parts of the parking lot to where things could be seen," said Colton's mother Kathy Valdez.
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