Grandmother who killed man in pet spa acted in self-defense, DA says

CONCORD, N.C. — The Cabarrus County District Attorney's Office announced Friday that it would not file charges against a woman who shot and killed a man inside the pet spa she owns in Concord.

[PAST COVERAGE: Police identify man killed in shooting at Concord pet spa]

The district attorney’s report said Sarah Shoe shot and killed DeShawn Tatem after he forcefully and unlawfully entered Sarah’s Pet Spa on Winecoff School Road in November and started attacking her boyfriend while her two young grandchildren were inside the business.

Tatem was also known as “The General” in a group called the Yahshua Movement, according to the district attorney's report. The Yahshua Movement had rented space near Sarah’s Pet Spa.

Tatem went into Sarah’s Pet Spa and became involved in a verbal altercation with Shoe's boyfriend Christopher Gray over a water bill, according to a 911 call. Tatem was told to leave the premises more than a dozen times, according to the report.

Shoe called 911 when Tatem left the business and told the operator that he only left when she pulled out a gun.

During the 911 call, Shoe told the dispatcher that Tatem returned to the store with several other people and started yelling expletives at her and Gray.

The district attorney’s report said that while Shoe was on the phone with 911, a physical fight broke out between Tatem and Gray and that’s when she went and got the gun again. Shoe said she pointed the gun at Tatem so he would stop assaulting Gray.

Shoe said that Tatem then repeatedly told her to shoot him. She told police that when he started coming toward her, she had her two small grandchildren by her side and she fired the gun at him to protect them.

The single shot killed Tatem, according to the district attorney's report.

The district attorney ruled that Shoe acted in self-defense, and therefore no charges will be filed.

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