Man who fatally shot cabin guest nine times won’t face charges

A Pennsylvania man who allegedly shot a guest at his cabin nine times won’t face charges, according to The Associated Press. 

Peter Spencer, 29, was killed on Dec. 12 during a weekend away at a Pittsburgh man’s Venango County cabin, which Spencer visited with three other people. Spencer reportedly started behaving erratically while high on psychedelic mushrooms and began firing an assault rifle and making threats.

A neighbor confirmed hearing random gunfire prior to the final shooting.

The man who owned the cabin then shot Spencer nine times, an act that Venango County District Attorney D. Shawn White determined to be self-defense. The owner of the cabin worried Spencer would end up killing them after taking their car keys and threatening to “shoot up the place.”

Paul Jubas, an attorney representing the family of Spencer, who is Black, called the self-defense decision disappointing but not surprising, the AP noted. The other people present at the scene at the time of the incident were white.

The investigation conducted by state police was previously criticized for lacking transparency, prompting some to take to the streets of Pittsburgh to protest last month.

White defended the probe, claiming the lack of information shared with Spencer’s family was a result of policies preventing him from commenting on an ongoing investigation.

The Pennsylvania State Police Heritage Affairs Section also determined there to be no evidence of racial bias.