A long-running neighbor dispute in a Portage, Wisconsin apartment building ended in death in the spring of 2018. Victor Reynolds, 54, lived above his downstairs neighbor, 49-year-old Calvin Eldridge. Complaints about loud music, harassment, and other disturbances had created persistent tension between the two men and prompted prior police involvement.The confrontation that proved fatal began on the evening of May 7, 2018, after a slammed door sparked a physical fight. Both men reportedly exchanged blows; Eldridge, who held a concealed carry permit and was armed, later said Reynolds had put him in a headlock and he feared Reynolds was trying to take his gun.

Eldridge fired one shot, striking Reynolds in the leg. Reynolds was found wounded and conscious, transported for emergency care and airlifted to UW Hospital in Madison, but the gunshot damaged a major artery and he died on May 8, 2018.Eldridge was arrested and initially charged with second-degree reckless homicide. He maintained the shooting was in self-defense.

In September 2018 he pleaded guilty to lesser counts including recklessly endangering safety and misdemeanor endangerment with use of a dangerous weapon; the reckless homicide charge was dismissed and he received nine months in jail and four years probation, plus an order to pay part of Reynolds’ funeral costs.