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HAMILTON, Ont. — To tears of relief from one side of a small courtroom and muttered profanities from the other, a jury has acquitted Peter Khill in the shotgun-shooting death of Jon Styres.

The verdict came early Wednesday here after about eight hours of deliberation.

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Khill had been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 4, 2016 shooting, but jurors also could have convicted him of the lesser offence of manslaughter if they found he lacked the requisite intent for murder.

Instead, by their verdict, the jury accepted Khill’s explanation that he had shot Styres, an Indigenous man from the nearby Six Nations reserve, in self-defence.

Some supporters of the Styres’ family, including the mother of Styres’ two children, stormed out of the courtroom, calling the verdict “F—ing bullshit.”

But Styres’ mother Debra sat in her wheelchair, quietly weeping.

Later, when Ontario Superior Court Judge Stephen Glithero made a few remarks before leaving, he appeared to be addressing her particularly when he said he knew how “tough emotionally” the trial had been for people, and thanked them for keeping calm.