No Charges Filed In Shooting Death Of Wash.

An Auburn man arrested in the fatal shooting of a popular Auburn basketball and football coach will not be charged, the King County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Wednesday.

The Prosecutor’s Office said the 18-year-old acted in self-defense on May 1 when he shot and killed Cascade Middle School coach Shennon Shelton, 22, and wounded his brother Gaston Shelton.

The alleged gunman told police that a fight started between his little brother and a neighborhood girl that somehow escalated into a melee involving the victims’ family, prosecutors said.

In a statement released on Wednesday, prosecutors said they “cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [the shooter] was unjustified in his actions.” He “faced an imminent risk of being assaulted by the six men who had come to his apartment to likely enact revenge” for an earlier attack on Gaston Shelton, prosecutors said.

To read more about the decision not to file charges, click here.

The day after the shooting, the Shelton brothers’ uncle, Steve Leau , said the family had prayed for the shooter, had forgiven him and were ready to accept whatever charging decisions prosecutors made.

Shennon Shelton helped coach basketball and football at Cascade Middle School. He came from a big Samoan family with athletic brothers. One of his younger brothers, Danny, 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, is one of the University of Washington’s most prized football recruits this year.