SHERIFF: Son was protecting mother in justified shooting death of father on Christmas Eve

A sheriff's office says that there will not be charges surrounding the shooting death of a man on Christmas Eve.

Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance says that George Chance, 44, was shot dead by his adult son in what Dance says was a justified shooting.

Sheriff's investigators say that Chance and his wife had been arguing and that the arguing turned violent.

That's when deputies say that the man's son got a gun and shot him three times.

Dance says the violence had reached a point where the use of deadly force was justified to end it.

Dance says during the course of their investigation they found out about a history of domestic violence issues involving Chance.

Deputies are investigating a death after a man was found shot on Christmas Eve.

The Pitt County Sheriff's Office says that deputies were called to a home on Old River Road around 6:25 p.m. for a report of a person shot.

There they found a 44-year-old man without a pulse and not breathing.

Crime scene investigators were called to the scene.

The case is being considered a death investigation at this time.