The Leesburg Police Department and the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Office are investigating after a homeowner killed a woman who reportedly was trying to break into his property early Tuesday morning.
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Around 4:43 a.m., officers were called to a home on Crest Avenue, according to an police department news release. The homeowner told police he warned the woman that he was armed and, when she tried to break in, fired a first shot from his handgun through the door, breaking a window.
The woman, he said, then reached into the broken the window to try to open the door from the inside, prompting him to fire a second shot, killing her.
The woman’s identity has not been released, and it’s not clear whether she and the homeowner knew each other. The homeowner has not been arrested while prosecutors and detectives determine whether the shooting was justified under Florida’s self-defense laws.
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A police department spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking an update.
Anyone with information is asked to call LPD’s Criminal Investigations Division at 352-787-2121 or Crimeline at 800-423-8477.
Prosecutors with the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Office, which covers several counties including Lake County, are working to determine whether charges are warranted. A spokesperson for that office did not respond to a request for comment but told other news outlets the investigation could take weeks or months.
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