A 39-year-old man, who reportedly shot and killed another man in self-defense in Anderson Sunday night, has been turned over to U.S. marshals in anticipation of a federal weapons charge.
McDonald County Sheriff Robert Evenson said Matthew D. Robertson, 32, died from a single shotgun blast during an altercation with Michael J. Smith at the Wallain Court apartments complex in Anderson, where both men lived in separate apartment units.
Authorities received an 8:30 p.m. call reporting the shooting at the apartment complex and found Robertson dead at the scene, the sheriff said. He said it was determined that Robertson was in the act of breaking in the door to Smith’s home when Smith shot him in the chest with a .410-gauge shotgun.
Evenson said the shooting was preceded by an altercation Saturday night during which Robertson apparently had punched Smith in the face. A second exchange of words took place outside Smith’s apartment Sunday night, with Smith retreating inside and locking his door, he said.
The sheriff said Robertson broke the door trying to get to Smith and was shot and killed almost instantly.
Smith was held overnight while deputies investigated the shooting, Evenson said. A determination was made today not to charge him with the shooting, the sheriff said. But, due to a prior felony conviction, the U.S. attorney’s office in Springfield plans to charge Smith instead with being a felon in possession of a firearm and he was being transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, according to Evenson.
