Washington State Man Arrested After Fatally Shooting Stranger He Found in His Shower

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A man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder in Washington State on Saturday after shooting an intruder he found in his shower, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. The man who was arrested was identified by the sheriff’s office on Monday as Bruce Fanning, a Mason County resident. Mr. Fanning discovered around 8 a.m. on Saturday that the door of one of two of the residences he owns had been kicked in, said Lt. Travis Adams of the sheriff’s office. Mr. Fanning, 59, walked through the building and eventually found the stranger using a shower, and the two exchanged words, Lieutenant Adams said. Mr. Fanning, who believed the stranger to be drunk, the police said, then retreated to his private residence next door and retrieved a handgun. He returned and fired four shots through the shower curtain, killing the man in the shower, the sheriff’s office said. After shooting the intruder, Mr. Fanning called the police. The victim was identified as Nathaniel Joseph Rosa, 31, from Bothell, Wash., a city in the greater Seattle metropolitan area. It is about a two-hour drive northeast of Mason County, a relatively rural part of the state. “All the information that we have indicates that the guy was undressed, in the shower, taking a shower,” Lieutenant Adams said, adding that there was no indication that a physical altercation had taken place when Mr. Fanning discovered the stranger.

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Lieutenant Adams added that, other than an exchange of words, there was no indication that Mr. Fanning was threatened or that Mr. Rosa was armed. He said he did not believe that the two men were familiar with each other. Mr. Fanning owns two adjoining buildings on the property, one of which he uses to run an internet-based business, the police said.

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Washington law specifies that “no person in the state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting by any reasonable means necessary, himself or herself, his or her family, or his or her real or personal property.” The state also maintains that when citizens are assaulted in a place where they have a right to be, that they have no duty to retreat. It is the state’s version of what are commonly known as “Stand Your Ground” laws, though Washington’s self-defense law dates back much farther than other versions. “It’s kind of the Wild West out here, in a way,” said Todd Maybrown, a criminal defense lawyer in the state. Mr. Maybrown explained that, though Washington law does not impose a duty to retreat, a person defending himself is still barred from using “more force than necessary. But, he said, if a defendant successfully uses a self-defense claim in the state, he or she is entitled to reimbursement for legal fees, lost wages and other costs associated with the accusation.

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