LEESBURG, Fla. – An argument between two men ended with fatal gunfire Monday morning, according to Leesburg police, and the gunman's mother says her son shot at another man on their property in self-defense.
Police Department officials said they were called at 9:37 a.m. to the area of Moss and Main streets where they found one man had been shot. The man, later identified as Kevin Williams, 28, was taken to the hospital where he died, police said.
Leesburg High School and a day care center were placed on lockdown, which was lifted soon after the suspect was detained, police said.
Police said Darrell White, 29, was taken into custody and later released.
White's mother, Denise Sanders said the shooting was self-defense after Williams, the fiance of a woman White dated, came to the home looking for him.
Leesburg police detectives said their initial investigative efforts revealed that the two men, and possibly others, were arguing when the shooting happened.
Sanders said she didn't know Williams before he showed up at her home and walked onto her property.
"I kept telling him 'Please, would you please get off my property?' He said 'No, we are going to handle this today. It's going to be handled today,'" Sanders said, adding that there were children inside her home at the time of the shooting.
After Williams refused to leave and made verbal threats, White went inside and retrieved a gun, Sanders said.
"It's bad and sad that it had to happen like this because I asked this young man to leave three times and it's ridiculous that he didn't listen to me," Sanders said.
Leesburg police Cpt. Joe Iozzi said White was later released from custody after discussing the case with the state attorney's office. Officers are interviewing witnesses and will continue to work with the state attorney's office to determine if charges will be filed.
"We would like to ensure our community, and all persons involved, that a thorough and complete investigation will render the appropriate outcome in this case," Iozzi said in a news release.
Sanders believes Florida's "stand your ground" law should apply to the shooting.
"My son should not be in jail for protecting for his family, no he shouldn't," she said.
Meanwhile, Williams leaves behind eight children with two more on the way, according to his sister Jasmine Boston.
Boston and Williams were a year apart in age and she says her brother was unarmed and didn't deserve to die.
"How was he being aggressive when he didn't have (a) gun on him," Boston said.