FOX Carolina 21Police: Homeowner shoots man in face in Spartanburg neighborhood

Police officers responded to a shooting in the Converse Heights area of Spartanburg on Tuesday after a man was shot in the face.

Spartanburg Public Safety said officers were called to the 100 block of Connecticut Avenue Tuesday afternoon.

Captain Art Littlejohn said the two homeowners were told someone was living in the home, but no one had been authorized to be inside the residence, so they went to check on the property.

When they arrived, Littlejohn said they found a stranger at the front door. Both homeowners were armed with handguns, one of them pulled their weapons to warn the man to back away from them, according to Littlejohn.

The incident report said the homeless man tried to grab the gun, so the homeowner's wife shot him in the head. Neither homeowner was injured, according to officers.

When police arrived on the scene, they found the man, Gregory Wells, 31, of Spartanburg, lying at the front door and the homeowners standing nearby. Wells was responsive and taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center where he underwent surgery.

A neighbor told FOX Carolina that the home has been on the market for four years and was unoccupied at the time of the shooting.

The incident report said the wife told officers that they went to the front door and while looking for the key, her husband pulled on the door and it opened. She said the man came to meet them at the door, grabbed her husband and she shot him.

On Friday, police announced a decision by the 7th Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office to press charges against Wells for unlawful entry, which is a felony.

The Solicitor's Office said there would be no charges filed against the homeowners due to the Castle Doctrine, which states that, "a person's home is his castle and to extend the doctrine to include an occupied vehicle and the person's place of business.... that it is proper for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, their families, and others from intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves and others."

Littlejohn said Wells was released from the hospital and taken to the Spartanburg County Detention Center on Dec. 31. He is being held on a $10,000 bond.

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