"In my personal opinion, I believe that he should have stayed inside the house," he said. "Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No."
I'm pretty sure whether or not the dude violated any laws (by firing bullets into an unknown human being) will be decided by the DA/prosecutor, not the Sheriff.
Typically, the police are more of the "one less roaming old dude for us to deal with" mentality, and the people with law degrees focus more on the "Does a person who fears for their life choose to leave safety of home to engage target?", etc.
I still think the 911 call(s) will hold the answers. If the guy was truly scared, why leave safety and a locked door to go confront a stranger - particularly when the cops will be there any second? heck, he could have fired at a cop, right? He had no idea what the person looked like he was shooting at - suppose a cop on foot arrived from being parked in the wrong spot... dude just opened fire, huh?
Sorry, I dont typically roll with whatever the police say. let those who actually apply the law make that call. I hope they realize this guy left safety to run into a gun battle and fired without provocation at an unknown shape of a man, and charge him with something moderate. Not murder. but leave him alone, and next week, he's shooting at the mailman or lawn guy.