PREVIOUSLY:

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A man arrested for shooting a 17-year-old boy to death in Willow Creek has been released from jail with no charges filed.

Peter Norton, 25, arrested for suspected murder early Sunday morning, was freed Wednesday after the district attorney had not filed charges within the mandated time. District Attorney Maggie Fleming, though she said the investigation is continuing, said it appears the shooting may have been justified.

“The investigation to date includes statements by witnesses to the tragedy who told the investigators that Peter Norton shot the 17-year-old after the 17-year-old male made threats and then held a gun to the head of a female who was present,” Fleming said in an e-mail.

Norton was arrested in the early-morning hours Sunday after he admitted shooting the boy during an altercation at a residence on the 500 block of state Highway 96 in Willow Creek.

“Under California law a homicide may be justified if a person kills someone in self-defense or defense of another,” the district attorney said. “Given the current state of the investigation no charges have been filed.”

Fleming said she notified the 17-year-old’s mother about the decision not to charge Norton, as well as telling her the investigation will continue.