- Jordana L. Esses shot Brenton Boudreau, her on-again/off-again boyfriend, Miami Twp. police said.
- Esses fired 10 to 15 times during an argument that turned physical. He was hit in the leg, according to police.
- Police and the county prosecutor's office agreed the shooting was a case of self-defense
Police confirmed Esses, 48, of South Carolina was involved in the Dayton Mall shooting Monday, according to the Miami Twp. Police Department. She was released from custody Tuesday afternoon after being detained while a felonious assault charge was being considered by police and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
Boudreau, of Michigan, is the person she shot during what the police investigation has determined was a case of self-defense. He was treated at Kettering Medical Center for two gunshot wounds to his left leg.
He has left the hospital against medical advice, according to police.
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After considering the facts and statements from witnesses, The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office determined Esses fired the shots in self-defense and she was released.
Boudreau may face misdemeanor assault and possibly felony kidnapping charges. Miami Twp. police will present their case to the prosecutor’s office.
Four dogs removed from the scene will be returned to Esses on demand, according to the police department’s statement.
The couple drove to Sears to purchase biodegradable toilet paper for their recreational vehicle, police said.
911 CALL: Reports man hitting woman; then she shoots
Concealed carry advocate
Esses is a concealed carry advocate who in April was featured in a TV news story about a CCW class in South Carolina.
She said the class is important for several reasons.
“It’s a very important class and each state has individual laws so you have to know those laws, and you have to know them to protect yourself and others," she said in the TV news.
"When thinking of taking the class and owning a gun, it's not a decision to be taken lightly because if you have a gun you have to be able to use it if need be."
PHOTOS: From the scene
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
A domestic dispute
Miami Twp. police said the couple stopped for supplies at Sears in the Dayton Mall, but an argument escalated into a shooting that left a man wounded.
Both could be charged criminally, said Miami Twp. Sgt. Paul Nienhaus, but both were not cooperative with police. The man and woman are not area residents, he said.
According to the preliminary investigation, the male assaulted the female before she she fired at him 10 to 15 times.
She hit him at least once his lower leg, the sergeant said.
There are visible injuries to the woman, he said.
“We’re not quite sure what all is involved at this point,” Nienhaus said. “I have no idea what the fight was about. There is nothing to indicate that it was sexual assault. It was an argument that turned physical. Emotions were running high.”
The man and woman apparently never made it to the Sears store, Nienhaus said. He also said one of four dogs in the recreational vehicle they were in ran off during the fight and gunfire. The Montgomery County Animal Resource Center has the other three.
The recreational vehicle where the shooting occurred was towed away from the Sears parking lot by police. It will be used as evidence in the shooting.
One of four dogs that ran off when gunfire broke out, has been accounted for, Miami Twp. police said.
All four dogs are with the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, according to police.
Nienhaus said police are trying to determine whether the man and woman live in the recreational vehicle, which police will tow.
Witnesses to the shooting
According to a 9-1-1 call to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch, a caller described some sort of altercation inside a recreational vehicle involving a man and woman that ended with shots fired in the parking lot at the Dayton Mall Sears.
“He was hitting her,” the caller said. “Oh, she just shot him! She’s shooting at him!”
We’re told that an investigator from Montgomery County Animal Resource Center has been called to remove as many as four pit bulls from a vehicle believed to have been involved in the incident in Miami Twp.
Jay Day, who identified himself as the owner of Dayton Drones and Dayton Studios at the Dayton Mall, said he heard five gunshots and saw “a gentleman holding his leg.”
Day, in an interview with News Center 7’s Kate Bartley, said, “I’d say he’s going to survive, it was his lower calf.”
Day said the windshield of his vehicle was blown out in the exchange of gunfire, but he stayed back to allow police to intervene.
“The police were here so quick and mall security were on top of it, so we tried to let them do their job,” Day said.
Day said he believes the vehicles involved bore South Carolina license tags.
Mall safety
In December, the owners of the Dayton Mall, Washington Prime Group, told this newsroom safety is their top priority.
MORE: Shoppers express feeling safe despite mall incidents
“We work closely with the local police departments and our own security teams to provide shoppers with a safe, pleasant shopping experience year round,” Shelley Sloan, regional marketing manager at Washington Prime Group, said in a statement.
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