Mobile County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating a Sunday morning shooting near Mount Vernon after a local man came forward and admitted to firing the shots, telling investigators he acted in self-defense.
Deputies responded to a report of a man shot along Highway 43 and found a 25-year-old victim suffering from two gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital with injuries described by the sheriff’s office as not life-threatening.
According to a sheriff’s office spokeswoman, detectives initially had difficulty interviewing the victim, who was uncooperative at the scene. When investigators returned to the area, they were met by a 25-year-old man who acknowledged shooting the victim and said he had done so to defend himself.
Detectives recovered spent shell casings in the shooter’s front yard along with a loaded ammunition magazine. Inside the victim’s vehicle, deputies found a handgun and a short-barreled shotgun.
Investigators said evidence at the scene supported the account that the man who fired the shots was on his own property at the time and that gunfire was exchanged between both parties. The sheriff’s office said the case would be presented to a Mobile County grand jury for review, a standard step in cases involving self-defense claims.
Jail records show the shooting victim had been booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail in the weeks prior on drug-related charges, including possession of a controlled substance and an earlier arrest involving marijuana possession and an attempt to distribute a controlled substance.
Alabama’s self-defense laws generally allow the use of deadly force when a person reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or serious injury on their own property, though prosecutors and a grand jury ultimately determine whether a shooting meets that legal standard. The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remained active, with no charges announced against either party at the time of the report.