Frank Campbell Jr.

Frank Campbell Jr., 43, who was shot to death at a north St. Louis County home, was an intruder who was killed in self-defense by the homeowner, police said Wednesday. Campbell's family told the Post-Dispatch that Campbell apparently was intoxicated and wandered into the wrong apartment, thinking it was his, and was shot. Campbell, of the 900 block of Pike Court in unincorporated St. Louis County, was fatally shot about 4:20 p.m. Monday in the 900 block of Thunderhead Drive. Campbell was armed with a handgun when he "unlawfully entered" the residence and was "shot by the homeowner in self-defense after an altercation," police said. Campbell died at the scene. Authorities have not identified the homeowner or said if they knew each other. Thunderhead Drive is northeast of Lilac Drive and Interstate 270, in unincorporated St. Louis County. Frank Campbell operated a forklift in a warehouse and was a graduate of Normandy High School, said Ronnie Campbell, a cousin of Frank Campbell. "He was a great leader, he cared about his family a lot," Ronnie Campbell said. Police have not given the homeowner's age or said if the gun used to kill Campbell was Campbell's handgun or a weapon belonging to the homeowner. Because police, after a preliminary investigation, described the shooting Wednesday as self-defense, it likely would be considered justifiable under the state's Castle Doctrine.