Tuesday evening's fatal shooting of a driver after a fight quickly escalated on a rural road northwest of Redding drew debate on local social media on when a person can shoot in self defense.

According to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office, the driver who was killed, 49-year-old Mark Alan Turner of Redding, and his passenger drove a Ford Expedition SUV to the end of City View Drive off Walker Drive Road to see the city lights. The pair parked at a turnout about 50 yards from the home of James Johnson, who told them they were trespassing and needed to leave.

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Turner and Johnson got into an argument and Turner tried to run Johnson over, with the driver's side mirror hitting Johnson in the abdomen, according Shasta County Sheriff's Office reports. Johnson then broke out one of the SUV's side windows with a flashlight. Turner got out and put Johnson in a choke hold with Johnson struggling free by biting the man on the arm, sheriff's officials said.

Johnson ran back to his house, "fearing for his safety," deputies said, as Turner chased him and ripped off Johnson's shirt. Johnson then got a 12-gauge shotgun. Meanwhile, Turner sped up the driveway toward Johnson, his wife and another adult, skidding to a stop 2 to 3 feet short of where they were standing. When Turner backed up and drove toward Johnson again, Johnson fired a round of birdshot toward the SUV 10 to 20 feet away, hitting Turner in his neck and face, and leading to his death.

Comments on social media ranged from support for the shooter, saying he had a right to protect himself, his wife and their companion in self-defense, to questioning why the residents didn't call deputies to report the trespasser before things escalated. One commenter said the driver could've apologized for trespassing and left. Many said just call the police.

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Detectives said this week they'll need more time to wrap up their investigation before submitting a case to the District Attorney's Office for review of possible homicide charges.

"It'll be an interesting case," said Sabrina Thomas, an NRA instructor who teaches those who want concealed-carry weapons permits at the Nice Shot indoor shooting range in Redding.

"We'll see how it pans out. There's not enough information to really make a decision either way right now," she said.

She says gun owners need to understand both the laws defining deadly force and use of deadly force for personal defense and when a homicide is justified. The classes she teaches cover an attacker’s ability and opportunity to harm you and whether a person feels like he's in immediate jeopardy.

"It's very important to understand these if you're ever in a situation where you feel like you are in jeopardy and need to use deadly force toward somebody," Thomas said.

In general, Thomas said people can use lethal force when a reasonable person believes that great bodily injury or death is imminent to themselves or others.

"We don't fire warning shots. If there's time for a warning shot, there's time to make a different decision. There's no shooting to wound," Thomas said. "It's shooting to eliminate the threat, whatever that means to you. It's very open to interpretation."

Ted Lidie, chief instructor for Northern Firearms Instruction in Redding, said the California Penal Code under 198.5 explains the state's stand-your-ground law, although he said every situation is going to be different.

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"There's no hard and fast but there is a law and the law is based on the belief that you're going to die or be greatly injured," he said.

"What we teach is critical thinking with a firearm," Lidie said.

He points to the Tuesday shooting as an example of an opportune time to call law enforcement. If the property owner was safe in his home when he grabbed the shotgun, he's no longer in an immediate confrontation, and at that point you call police.

Bridgett, Shasta County's district attorney, couldn't comment on the case but gave three elements for justifiable homicide.

These are a person who reasonably believes he or she or others are in imminent danger of being killed or will suffer great bodily injury; a person reasonably believes use of deadly force is necessary; and the person uses no more force than is reasonably necessary.

"Your belief has to be reasonable," Bridgett said. "We have to look at all the circumstance in a case."