An Evansville, Indiana man was fatally shot after swinging a board at a guest staying at his home on Delmar Avenue. Police determined the shooting was self-defense after interviewing multiple witnesses who remained on scene.
The suspected shooter did not flee and cooperated fully with investigators. Evansville Police Department confirmed on August 31 that the shooting was ruled self-defense based on witness statements and available evidence, and no arrests were made.
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EVANSVILLE, IN — A man staying at a home in the 1400 block of Delmar Avenue shot and killed the homeowner Saturday morning, and the Evansville Police Department has determined the shooting was self-defense.
The homeowner was 34-year-old Carson Helmling, who had argued with two people his brother had allowed to stay at the house. Helmling tried to get them to leave and swung a board at them, as reported by WFIE. One of the two men shot him.
Officers were dispatched just before 11:00 a.m. on a shots fired run, according to EPD. The 911 caller reported that their brother had been shot. Officers arrived and found an adult male with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to a local hospital, where he did not survive.
A board swung at a person is not a fistfight. Deadly force is justified only against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, and a length of lumber swung at someone’s head clears that bar without any help from the rest of the story. Owning the house does not change the math either. A deed is not a license to swing a weapon at someone standing inside it.
The suspected shooter was detained at the scene, EPD said, and there did not appear to be a threat to the general public. Additional subjects, including potential witnesses, were also identified on scene, and detectives canvassed the area for more witnesses and evidence.
That detail is doing real work here. The shooter did not run. He was there when officers pulled up, he gave a statement, and so did the other people in the house. That put his account on the record in the first minutes and left investigators with a cooperative witness to interview instead of a manhunt to run.
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“So initially officers responded, detained multiple people, both witnesses and the shooter, who remained on scene afterwards, and then began the investigative process,” Sgt. Anthony Aussieker said. “So through that they interviewed multiple people, people that were present as well as again the shooter, and determined that it was likely a self-defense situation.”
Two days later, on August 31, EPD posted an update. “Based on the statements of everyone involved and the known evidence at this time, this shooting has been determined to be self-defense,” the department said. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
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