BY NOAH HAGLUND
Of The Post and Courier Staff



Prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against a bouncer who said he fired in self-defense at two men outside a Remount Road nightclub early Saturday, killing one and wounding another.
Airrion Rogers, 24, of North Charleston said he began shooting a handgun when men with knives and baseball bats threatened him outside Esmeralda club at 1310 Remount Road, police said. The 12:30 a.m. shooting left Mario Castillo-Fuentes dead and Gildardo Pacheco wounded.

Castillo-Fuentes, 29, of North Charleston died at about 1:20 a.m. from a gunshot to the left side of his chest, the Charleston County Coroner's Office has said. Pacheco, also of North Charleston, was released from the hospital later that day after being treated for a gunshot wound to the lower right side of his stomach. A police report gives Pacheco's approximate age as 24 to 28.

Rogers received no injuries, police have said. The solicitor's office decided Tuesday not to prosecute. Chief Deputy Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said the bouncer didn't have to wait to be attacked before acting in self-defense.

"He was attacked with deadly force and he responded with deadly force," Wilson said. "He didn't have to wait to get wounded before he decided to protect himself from knife-wielding, baseball-bat-wielding attackers."

Other eyewitnesses corroborated his account, according to the prosecutor.

Police described the following situation:

An officer arrived and found Castillo-Fuentes lying on his back in the parking lot with about a dozen people gathered around. As the officer arrived, Pacheco got out of a car a few feet away with a single gunshot wound to his stomach and lay down near Castillo-Fuentes.

A bouncer told police that Rogers tried to break up a crowd of men who were fighting in the parking lot. When members of the crowd approached Rogers with a baseball bat, he fired twice, striking Castillo-Fuentes and Pacheco. When Rogers tried to leave in a minivan, people shot or slashed the van's tires.

An officer called Rogers' cell phone and another officer drove to the 1500 block of Sumner Avenue to meet with him. When the officer approached Rogers, who was standing in the roadway smoking a cigarette, he immediately raised his hands in the air and surrendered. The officer found a semi-automatic handgun on the ground nearby.

North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said a detective met with the solicitor's office.

"(T)hey consulted us because they had reached a preliminary decision" not to prosecute, Wilson said. "I think that they made the correct assessment based on the fact that the bouncer was hired to protect the patrons of the business."

Pacheco could not be reached for comment. A man who identified himself as an acquaintance said neither Pacheco nor Castillo-Fuentes attacked Rogers prior to the shooting.

Noah Haglund covers crime. Contact him at 937-5550.

Any info on where this happened?

i think it was on remount rd not sure

Prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against a bouncer who said he fired in self-defense at two men outside a Remount Road nightclub early Saturday,

Yep.

Notice that they didn't mention the immigration status of the two attackers?

Hey- did you guys see my letter in the P&C last week about illegal aliens and how the local police promise not to call INS on them?

Yes, Remount Rd night club. I did RTFP  hich
-GC