No one was hit when one of three masked teenagers trying to rob three people outside a home in Conyers, Ga., fired a handgun at the around 4 a.m. Monday. The tables quickly turned when someone in the front yard returned fire, killing all three teenagers. The episode could be a case of self-defense, or it could possibly fall under Georgia’s so-called Stand Your Ground law, the New York Times reports. The law states that someone may “use whatever force to protect themselves if a felonious assault is about to be made upon him,” and is not obligated to retreat, says University of Georgia law Prof. Ronald Carlson.
About 25 states have a version of the Stand Your Ground law. The language can vary significantly from state to state. In Pennsylvania, for example, the law stipulates that a person cannot use deadly force outside of his or her home or vehicle. In Idaho, deadly force can be used to defend not only a person’s home but also one’s place of employment. Last summer, a Florida sheriff refused to arrest a white man who had shot and killed a black man over a parking spot dispute, citing the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Three weeks later, prosecutors charged the white man, Michael Drejka, with one count of manslaughter with a firearm in the killing of Markeis McGlockton. Drejka did not testify at the trial, and last month he was found guilty of manslaughter.