self-defense killing
Protective lethal force
A self-defense killing is a homicide legally justified because the person who killed was protecting themselves or others from imminent serious harm or death.
The legal standard typically requires that the threat be immediate and the response proportionate—you can't shoot someone for shoving you.
The jury ruled it a self-defense killing after hearing testimony that the intruder had a knife.
- justifiableAble to be defended
- lethalCausing or capable of death
- use of forcePhysical compulsion to comply
- forceStrength or compulsion
- attackerOne who strikes first
threat · life or death · survival · protection · home invasion · intruder · weapon · fear · imminent · danger · reasonable · deadly · struggle · heat of the moment · victim · perpetrator · in cold blood · court
self-defense killingmurder
Deliberate unlawful killing
assassination · premeditated murder · first-degree murder · revenge killing · thrill killing
self-defense killingnon-resistance
Choosing not to oppose
fleeing · surrender · peaceful resolution · de-escalation · capitulation
self, defense, killing, selves, selfhood, selfish, selfishly, selfishness, selfless