DA: Self-defense, no charges in fatal August Gray shooting

Authorities will not file charges against a man who fatally shot a 24-year-old outside a tobacco and vape store in Gray Aug. 14, citing self-defense on the part of the shooter. First Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney's office reported Monday that a review of all available evidence, including video of the entire incident in which 59-year-old Kevin Nottingham shot Dalton Spaulding, "it was decided that Nottingham acted in self defense," according to a release. Spaulding was hit three times after Nottingham fired four rounds while, the DA's office reported, Spaulding was assaulting him after he had "violently [thrown] Nottingham to the ground causing a prosthetic leg worn by Nottingham to become detached." He was pronounced dead at the scene, outside A1 Smoke and Vape Shop on Roy Martin Road. Spaulding 'the principal aggressor' Finney's office said a Johnson City Police Department investigation found that an altercation began after Spaulding accused Nottingham of "looking in a disrespectful manner at his grandfather" while Spaulding's grandfather waited in the parking lot. Spaulding "was the principal aggressor," with the physical nature of the dispute beginning when he threw Nottingham to the ground. With Nottingham on the ground and Spaulding continuing to assault him, the older man fired four rounds from a .38-caliber revolver. Three of those shots struck Spaulding in the chest and arm. In addition to the video surveillance, JCPD investigators relied on "multiple corroborative witness statements." JCPD did not provide comment on the investigation's outcome and the decision not to prosecute Nottingham before press time.