There will be no criminal charges in a deadly shooting in Keene, New Hampshire, in May 2022 after the shooter claimed self-defense, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office announced Wednesday.
Attorney General John M. Formella said there will be no criminal charges filed in the shooting death of Kristopher W. Chagnon, based on a claim of self-defense and differing witness accounts of what happened that night.
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According to the AG's report, police responded to a Green Street home around 8:40 p.m. on May 13, 2022, after receiving multiple 911 calls, including one from the admitted shooter, reporting someone had been shot.
When they arrived they found Chagnon outside, injured with a gunshot wound. Chagnon was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.
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An autopsy performed Sunday determined Chagnon's cause of death was a single gunshot wound, and his manner of death was ruled a homicide.
According to the AG's report, the situation started when the shooter, who had just returned from McDonald's with his 1-year-old child, went looking for his 7-year-old child, who was supposed to be at home with an older sibling.
This is when, according to the AG's report, accounts differ. The shooter said he was followed home by a group of people who were shouting at him, claiming he was hitting and dragging his child. He and his children say the shooting was an accident and happened only after the group, which included Chagnon, banged on his door and entered his home. The shooter denies harming his child, and said he fired his rifle once after making warnings, and did not intend to actually hit Chagnon.
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Four witnesses who were with Chagnon say they followed the man and his child home because they were concerned about how he was handling the child. At least one said the man shot the rifle "without warning," and several maintained that the group did not break into the home and that they were outside the door when the shooting occurred.
Another neighbor, who did not witness the final confrontation, said they did not see any signs of unnecessary force from the man as he brought his son home.
Investigators said physical evidence at the scene does suggest that someone may have been trying to get into the home, with damage to the door frame. The evidence also showed that one shot was fired, which was consistent with the shooter's statements. However, there was also evidence that could potentially contradict the shooter's statements, including the location of the shoes the victim was wearing and where the victim bled out.
They also noted that the shooter called 911 and surrendered to police when they arrived, claiming self-defense from the beginning.
"In light of the differing witness statements, and the lack of sufficient objective evidence as to the issue of self-defense, the State would be unable to meet its burden of disproving Mr. Frazier’s self-defense claim at trial," the AG's report reads.
According to the AG, New Hampshire state law does allow for the use of deadly force in scenarios where the actor reasonably believes the other person is likely to use unlawful or deadly force. The laws also say that people in their own homes are not required to retreat before using force to protect themselves if they are not the initial aggressor.
