Woman Packing Heat Shoots And Kills Armed Man Trying To Shoot Up Crowded Graduation Party

A legally armed West Virginia woman shot and killed a gunman Wednesday after he began firing an AR-15-style rifle into a crowded party.

The shooter, identified as a black male who is 37-year-old DENNIS BUTLER, began shooting at dozens of people gathered for a birthday/graduation party at a Charleston, West Virginia, apartment complex before he was shot, police said.

A woman at the party brandished her legally owned pistol and shot and killed Butler, according to reports.

Butler had been at the apartment complex earlier Wednesday night in his vehicle and had been warned to slow down due to children playing.

No injuries were reported.

"Instead of running from the threat, she engaged with the threat and saved several lives," Sgt. Tony Hazelett, the assistant chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, said.

After she fatally shot the gunman, the woman and party guests waited for police to arrive, and all reportedly cooperated with the investigation, law enforcement said.

The woman has not been charged, and no charges are expected, Hazelett said.

It is unconfirmed whether Butler had legally acquired his AR-15-style rifle.

His attack came only one day after the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman killed at least 21 people, including 19 Robb Elementary School students.