He once shot a man. SC candidate for Congress tells why

When the issue of guns is raised on the campaign trail, Sean Carrigan has a very personal reaction. More than a decade ago, the Democratic candidate for Congress shot a man at his then-West Virginia home.

Carrigan is seeking the Democratic nomination for Congress in South Carolina's Second District. He is running against Phil Black and Annabelle Robertson in the June 12 primary. The winner of the Democratic contest will face the GOP nominee — longtime U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Lexington — in the November general election.

Carrigan has discussed the shooting on the campaign trail, saying it was in self-defense, and says it helped shape his thinking on guns and on domestic violence.

On March 20, 2007, West Virginia state police were called to Carrigan's home in Shady Spring, W. Va., after a shooting, according to local media reports.

State troopers found a man who had been shot multiple times at Carrigan's home and transported the injured man to a hospital.

The man was an ex-boyfriend of the woman that Carrigan then was dating — now his wife — and came to Carrigan's home to confront her.

Carrigan says he had encountered the man before — profanity and threats were exchanged — and had seen the man's truck near his home in West Virginia, where he was stationed as a U.S. Army recruiter.

Even after more than 20 years in the Army, Carrigan says it was the first time he felt the need to keep a gun in his home for protection.

"He was trying to let me know he knew where I lived, and that event caused me to go get a weapon," he said. "I needed to be able to protect myself or my children if my children were with me."

That night, Carrigan and his future wife were at his home when she went outside to get her dog, then "screamed" and ran back inside, followed by the man.

Carrigan retrieved his gun and repeatedly told the man to leave as he stood just inside his home's doorway, police said. When the man instead entered the residence, Carrigan shot him with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

The man was wounded in the upper and lower torso, once in a leg and once in a shoulder, state troopers reported.

"The only reason I shot him so many times was because he wouldn't go down," Carrigan said.

The Beckley, W. Va., Register-Herald reported no charges were filed in the incident. Eleven years later, the prosecuting attorney's office in Raleigh County, W. Va., can find no record of any case being brought in circuit or magistrate's court.

Carrigan says the shooting was taken before a grand jury for a possible charge of "malicious wounding," but the jurors declined to issue an indictment.

Carrigan says the incident shaped his thoughts on the issue of gun violence. He remembers losing classmates to gang violence while growing up in California, and thinks stand-your-ground laws outside the home encourage people to be too quick to shoot. He also thinks if his wife had been able to get a protective order, the shooting could have been avoided.

On the stump, Carrigan says he wants to require gun-safety training, gun registration and universal background checks before buying a gun. But gun laws must allow for self-defense, he adds.

"Some people don't understand that a lower- or middle-income family might be living in a situation where there's a higher potential for crime, and you need protection," he said.

This story was originally published April 19, 2018 at 12:08 PM with the headline "He once shot a man. SC candidate for Congress tells why."