North Carolina: Painter shot after being sent to wrong apartment

High Point, NC (NBC)(02/05/20)— A painter was shot last week after he was mistakenly sent to the wrong apartment in North Carolina and tried to enter it.

Byron Castillo, age 48, of Winston-Salem, continues to improve at a hospital, High Point police said Tuesday.

Castillo was hired by Chatham Wood Apartments in High Point, in Guilford County between Greensboro and Winston-Salem, to complete repairs to an apartment, according to police.

When he arrived at the apartment, he identified himself as maintenance, knocked on the door and tried to enter the unit with a key that did not work, police said.

A man inside the unit, Gregory Sims, age 28, thought Castillo was trying to break into his apartment.

Sims could see that Castillo was pulling on the door handle and that he had something in his other hand manipulating the deadbolt, police said.

Fearing for his safety, Sims opened the door and shot, striking Castillo once in the chest, according to police.

The police department’s violent crimes unit consulted with the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute, police said Tuesday morning.