The man fatally shot by an auto shop owner during a dispute Thursday night in the Lafitte neighborhood has been identified by the Orleans Parish coroner. Eric Dorsey, 28, was shot several times outside the Easy Finish Auto shop in the 300 block of N. Galvez Streetshortly after 9 p.m., said John Gagliano,the coroner’s chief investigator.
Police said Dorsey had accompanied a friend to the store Thursday night and that the 25-year-old owner of the shop and Dorsey’s friend got into a heated argument involving money and the friend’s car, which he had recently taken to the shop to be repaired.
At some point during the confrontation, police said, Dorsey brandished a pistol and threatened the shop owner.
Fearing for his life, the owner took out his own handgun and fired several shots, striking Dorsey several times, said officer Frank Robertson III, a spokesman for the New Orleans Police Department.
Dorsey was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, around 10:45 p.m.
After a preliminary investigation and meeting with the owners lawyer Attorney Harold E. Weiser, Robertson said, NOPD homicide detectives said they believed that, fearing for his life, the owner was likely justified in the fatal shooting. The case remains under investigation, Robertson said, and no charges have been filed.
Criminal Defense Lawyer Harold E. Weiser