Father Says His Son Shot Neighbor in Self-Defense

As prosecutors filed murder charges Monday against a 27-year-old Simi Valley man accused of fatally shooting his next-door neighbor, family members said Christopher Charles Harbridge fired in self-defense after being attacked with pepper spray.

“Christopher was defending himself against what he felt was sure death against this crazed attacker,” his father, John Harbridge, wrote in a one-page statement released Monday.

Harbridge, a former Moorpark College student, allegedly shot Ron Tracy Rowe to death Thursday during a confrontation on Rowe’s front lawn.

Authorities said the two men had been engaged in a long-standing feud that ended when Harbridge fired a single shot from a .38-caliber revolver into Rowe’s chest.

But during a brief court appearance Monday, Harbridge’s attorney said his client shot in self-defense after Rowe allegedly attacked Harbridge with a can of pepper spray.

“It is our position that this is a self-defense [shooting],” Tarzana attorney Jerry Webb said.

Seated in the courtroom, Rowe’s brothers shook their heads. Outside in the courthouse hallway, they said they did not want to comment on the defense theory or any aspect of Harbridge’s case.

“It’s just the beginning of something we will have to go through for a real long time,” John Rowe said.

Prosecutors charged Harbridge on Monday with murder and a special allegation of using a firearm. He was supposed to be arraigned but requested a one-week continuance. He is now expected to enter a plea Monday.

Outside the courtroom, Webb spoke briefly about the shooting and handed out the written statement from Harbridge’s family.

“Although my client stands accused of shooting [Rowe], there was justification for it,” Webb said.

According to the defendant’s father, Rowe had been feuding with Christopher Harbridge and several other neighbors in his Simi Valley community.

At one point, Christopher Harbridge had inquired about a restraining order, the father wrote, and “lived in fear to the point he carried a gun to and from his car each time he left the house.”

On the morning of the shooting, Christopher Harbridge was leaving his house when a confrontation with Rowe began. During a shouting match, Rowe allegedly attacked Harbridge with pepper spray, the father said.

“Christopher could not breathe. Christopher was now in fear of his life,” John Harbridge said, explaining how at that point his son went for his gun.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Ellison declined to comment on the statements.

“I am not going to go into the truth or facts of what occurred,” he said. “But I will say that pepper spray is not a deadly weapon . . . it is not likely to cause great bodily injury.”

Ellison added that even if the Harbridge family’s account is true, the charge would still be murder.

Simi Valley police are continuing their investigation.

Since the shooting, authorities have talked to neighbors and people who knew both men. Sgt. Andy McCluskey said that the shooting did not appear to be sparked by anything specific, but was yet another confrontation in a long feud.

Both Harbridge and Rowe have had several run-ins with the law in recent years, according to court records.

Harbridge was convicted of vandalism in 1993 for slashing the tires of a cable company truck.

Rowe was arrested and tried for battery against another neighbor last year, and arrested for vandalism earlier this year. Both those charges were dropped for lack of evidence, court records show.

The account of the shooting by John Harbridge seems to contradict what friends and relatives have said about Rowe, a 30-year-old construction worker who was remembered at a memorial Monday night.

“You could talk to anybody who knew him, he was a giving person,” said his brother, Daniel Rowe, crying in the hallway of the courthouse Monday afternoon.

“He was a very good person,” said Aaron Rychek, a friend and neighbor of Rowe. “He was like a brother to me . . . he will always be in my heart.”