With speculation running rampant, I will share what I have heard from a high-ranking law enforcement official. The crux of this is that Traeshon did everything he could to soothe what was a potentially violent situation that could have ended significantly worse.
Some background, Holden had a girlfriend who had been staying elsewhere for several days and had a different girl in his apartment. When the other girlfriend came back that night, she saw the other girl’s bag. Holden calmly walked her out to the car, got her apartment key and tried to have a conversation with her before she left. She had smashed a cell phone on the ground and as he headed back to the building he picked up the pieces.
A neighbor was watching the dispute from a window, came down and let the girl back into the apartment building a few minutes later. The girlfriend, neighbor and neighbor’s fiancé came to Holden’s door, where the girlfriend was shouting, kicking the door, throwing shoes and causing a disturbance. When Holden opened the door, the girl tried to push in, Holden pushed her out, and the two argued at the door about the girlfriend wanting to enter to “see” the other girl inside.
Holden said no and asked/demanded all three leave. Girlfriend slapped him in the face and struck him in the chest. When she tried to push in again, Holden pushed her back out. At this point, girlfriend fell to the ground and neighbor pepper sprayed Holden on the cheek and mouth area. Once the incident (now involving two aggressors and third man in close proximity) reached this level, Holden said something about having a gun or shooting them and retreated into the apartment before returning with a pistol that he carried at his side, pointed down. It is disputed whether Holden racked a round (disputed), then the girlfriend asked “are you gonna shoot me?”
Holden shrugged his shoulders and walked into the apartment and closed the door. When girlfriend didn’t leave he and a security guard escorted her out. She broke a hand sanitizer on the way out.
Afterward, the girlfriend was very clear she did not want to press charges. Had he not brought the gun out, this case would have ended very differently, as he wasn’t aggressive or violent at all. But, by introducing a gun, law enforcement felt compelled to do something. Nevertheless, based on the limited use and actions with the gun it could not be proved he used it inappropriately. He has a self defense and defense of property claim to every action.
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