Homeowner Fatally Shoots Man in House

A 65-year-old Huntington Beach man--who recently complained to police about a break-in at a house he owns in Torrance--shot and killed a transient inside the house Tuesday night, Torrance police said.

James McKeefrey was arrested on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail after declining to answer investigators’ questions, police spokesman Ron Traber said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office was to decide today whether to file charges against McKeefrey.

“It’s one of those cases that could go either way,” Traber said. “It could have been something done in self-defense or an out-and-out homicide. He could go walking out of jail tomorrow night . . . or he could be waiting for arraignment for murder.”

Police said that they had not yet identified the man who was killed inside McKeefrey’s house at 4215 W. Artesia Blvd. but that he appeared to be a transient. They would not say how many times the man had been shot.

A neighbor said McKeefrey called out to him about 9 p.m. to phone police and paramedics. Police said that when they arrived, McKeefrey told them: “There’s a man in my kitchen. I don’t know if he’s dead. . . . I just shot him.”

Neighbors said McKeefrey lives in Huntington Beach and occasionally visits the Torrance house, where he lived for more than 30 years.

McKeefrey had told police last week that when he previously visited the house, he found evidence of a break-in.