Gun Owner Says Self-Defense Shooting Led to His Eviction

A St. Louis, Missouri man says he was evicted from his government-run apartment complex after using a legally owned firearm in self-defense in the apartment’s lobby. 

Torrey Holliday says CCTV footage from the lobby of the Euclid Plaza Apartments shows that he was not the aggressor in the incident, and according to Fox 2 in St. Louis, MO, Holliday wasn’t charged with any kind of criminal offense in connection with the incident. So why was he booted from his home?

The lease termination letter says Holliday was captured on front lobby video shooting someone. “They charged him,” Holliday said. “They charged him and he’s on a ban list. He’s not even supposed to be here.” 

You can still see the bullet holes in the lobby area, where Holliday says he was retreating from someone trying to steal his gun.

“I’m on the video steady back and back,” Holliday said.

Court records indicate the apartment surveillance video corroborates Holliday’s story.

“Good thing I did have my weapon on me or else I wouldn’t be here to talk about none of this,” Holliday said.

Holliday says he’s been told there’s an anti-gun policy, but claims staff knew he was armed and never said anything. He also pointed out the lobby signs that say no smoking or loitering, but nothing about weapons.

I can’t find anything in the Housing Authority’s handbook for residents that indicates firearms are banned on Housing Authority property, and the termination letter that was sent to Holliday references his supposed “criminal activity” as the reason for his eviction, not merely possessing a firearm. 

You, member(s) of your household, and/or your guests engaged in criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or the right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by residents and employees in violation of your lease. 

Details: Security camera on August 26, 2026 shows you in a verbal altercation and then pulling out a gun, firing it multiple times inside the lobby of Euclid Plaza, and shooting someone.

Holliday doesn’t dispute that’s what happened, but questions his eviction for “criminal activity,” since he’s not been charged with a crime. 

In a statement to Fox 2, the St. Louis Housing Authority contended the “administrative lease enforcement process is separate from any law enforcement investigation,” and that Holliday is welcome to “respond in accordance with established policies and procedures.”

There have been a number of legal challenges to gun bans in public housing, and to the best of my knowledge every one of them has been successful. That isn’t the issue here, but if actually using a legally-owned gun in self-defense can lead to your lease being terminated, I’d say the Housing Authority’s policy is still in conflict with the Second Amendment. 

If a determination of criminal activity isn’t dependent on any law enforcement investigation, then the SLHA can essentially evict any resident that it accuses of committing a crime. 

If the Housing Authority is evicting someone because of a defensive gun use, that seems like something the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development should be interested in, since that’s where SLHA gets most of its operating budget. I hope Holliday will reach out to HUD, and to Second Amendment organizations as well the local media, because this really is an appalling situation that deserves a response from Second Amendment supporters inside and outside of government. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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