North Carolina kids fatally shoot man abusing their mother, police say

Two North Carolina children got ahold of a gun and fatally shot a man police said was assaulting and strangling their mother.

During the attack, Steven Kelley, 46, said he was going to cut the throat of Chandra Nierman, his girlfriend, and kill everyone in the home, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said.

Police said Nierman’s 12-year-old son obtained a gun, and her 15-year-old daughter used it to shoot Kelley in the chest twice.

Nierman’s 16-year-old daughter was injured in the shooting after a bullet grazed her leg. She’s since been released from the hospital, according to police. Nierman also “suffered significant bruises and contusions from the assault,” police said.

Police were called to the home just after midnight on August 8 and found Kelley already dead.

Kelley was a convicted felon who had two active domestic violence protection orders against him from women in Indiana and Ohio, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said.

He also assaulted Nierman just days before his death, police said. Then, investigators said, he fired a gun inside the house multiple times “to threaten and terrorize Nierman.”

Police said they found multiple guns in the house and on Kelley’s body that belonged to him.

Authorities have said that no charges will be filed against the children as the shooting is considered “justified.”

The children have not been named because they are minors.

Forest City is about 65 miles west of Charlotte, North Carolina.