Official: Shooting was self-defense

The man said he would not have fired if he'd known the thief was a child.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A man who shot and killed a teenager who stole his car acted in self-defense and will not face criminal charges, a county prosecutor said.
Bennie Hall Jr., 61, feared for his life as a car driven by 14-year-old Qualvale Finnell headed straight toward him, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Friday. Deters based his conclusion on a police investigation of the Oct. 23 shooting and said he wouldn't take the case to a grand jury.
"He believed he was going to be hit by the car -- that's why he fired," Deters said.
Hall, licensed to carry a concealed weapon, said he was relieved by the decision and regretted the shooting. He said he didn't know the driver was a teenager.
"If I had known he was a child, I would have taken the hit," Hall said. "I would have laid down and not fired the gun. Maybe he would be alive."
Olivia Champion, the teen's grandmother, said the family isn't satisfied. Most of what the family knows about the case has been provided by media reports, not authorities, she said.
"I want more information," said Champion, 58. "I want to make sure this is thoroughly investigated.
"If he was trying to use the car as a weapon, then I can accept this," Champion said.
What happened
Hall, who lives in the city's Kennedy Heights neighborhood, said he started his 1994 Ford Taurus on the morning of the shooting and left it idling at the curb as he went back inside his house. Grabbing his gym bag and his .45-caliber pistol, Hall said he heard his car pull away.
He ran outside, gun in his right hand, and saw the car turning around in the street's dead end, about three houses away. Hall said the car was driving straight at him.
"I realized I had something in my hand. I just fired," said Hall, adding that he couldn't see the driver, who was ducking down, peering out from behind the steering wheel.
Hall said he fired three times. One bullet hit Finnell in the chest, severing his aorta, authorities said. The car lurched on and hit a parked car on the street.
Hall, who has five children and 11 grandchildren, said he still grapples with the shooting, and he chafes at the thought that he's a vigilante.
Drug dealers have been trying to take over his street, and that's why he decided to carry a gun, he said.
"I was protecting myself," Hall said of the shooting. "I am not Charles Bronson, out looking for people to shoot.
"This guy came to me. I am not a vigilante."