Update: Washington County fatal shooting found to be self defense

Note: This story ahs been updated

Authorities say that a shooting in Salem that left a man dead early Sunday morning was self defense.

According to the Washington County prosecutor, no formal charges will be filed against 24-year-old Blake H. Henry of Salem. According to Indiana State Police, troopers and town police responded to a report of a shooting at a home at just after midnight. 29-year-old Jacob R. Mitchell of Salem was found dead.

The prosecutor said that the investigation and interviews with Henry and two women in the home revealed that Henry had been battered several times already by Mitchell and that Mitchell had battered one of the women along with breaking a glass cabinet. Mitchell was charging at Henry again when the fatal shots were fired.

The prosecutor’s office says that Henry was allowing Mitchell to stay at the home after he had gotten into trouble over domestic violence against his girlfriend. He had also been convicted of domestic battery last year in a separate incident.

Henry was initially arrested on a preliminary murder charge, but Indiana law provides that a citizen has a right to defend themselves and third parties, according to the prosecutor.

Original story below:

Authorities are investigating a shooting in Salem that left a man dead early Sunday morning.

According to Indiana State Police, troopers and town police responded to a report of a shooting at a home at just after midnight. 29-year-old Jacob R. Mitchell of Salem was found dead.

A man and two women were in the home at the time of the shooting. All three were taken in for questioning. According to investigators, the shooting came after a domestic dispute.

The other man at the the home, 24-year-old Blake H. Henry of Salem was arrested on a charge of murder and taken to the Washington County Jail.