Suspect Charged After Seabrook Double Shooting Claims Self Defense Against Men Wielding Bats

CONCORD, N.H. (CBS/AP) — An attorney for Garrito Fort, the man facing a gun charge after police say he ran from the scene of a Seabrook, N.H. double shooting, argued Fort was acting in self defense.

Fort, 37, of Seabrook, was arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Authorities said he had run away from the scene where police found one man dead in a Seabrook driveway and another man wounded Monday. The two had been shot, authorities said. An autopsy took place on Tuesday.

No one has been directly charged with shooting the two men.

Fort's public defender, Deanna Campbell, said that a police affidavit shows that any type of action from Fort "was in self-defense" and that he told police he was hit, and was confronted by multiple people brandishing aluminum bats and metal pipes.

Benjamin Agati, senior assistant attorney general, said the self-defense claim was under investigation.

Agati said Fort pleaded guilty to kidnapping and several assault and battery charges in 2016 in Massachusetts. He has faced violations since then, and an open, pending civil restraining order that prevents him from having weapons.

A judge noted that Fort received a suspended sentence on the kidnapping and assault charges; he decided to keep Fort in jail for now and asked that a bail hearing be scheduled.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)