The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday that self-defense can excuse the killing of an unintended victim. However, defendants may be held responsible if their actions pose a substantial risk of serious harm to unintended victims.

The state’s highest court issued the ruling during a review of the case involving Kenneth Santana-Rodriguez , who is accused of killing Trung Tran , an innocent bystander, during a shooting at Holyoke Mall in 2023 .

On the day of the shooting, Santana-Rodriguez told police he fired the gunshots after getting into an argument with another man, Irvin Sanchez.

As Santana-Rodriguez tells it, during the argument, Sanchez lifted up his shirt to reveal a gun and said, “You know what’s about to happen.”

“It was him or me,” Santana-Rodriguez told the police

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