INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Federal prosecutors charge a metro man in the death of an off-duty Kansas City firefighter, but say he isn’t the one who pulled the trigger.

Independence police said 41-year-old Anthony Santi was shot at a gas station off of U.S. 40 Highway around 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

According to a federal affidavit Santi went to the convenience store to drop off novelty items at the business.

While in the store, Santi heard Ja’Von Taylor cussing at a woman working at the store. According to the affidavit Taylor was upset the store didn’t have the brand of cigars he wanted to buy.

The clerk refused service and told Taylor to leave the store. When he refused, Santi stepped in and also told him to leave. Court documents show Taylor began threatening Santi.

“What the firefighter did was just to protect her or defend her in any way shape or form, and that’s when the altercation started,” Edgar Jardon said in a translation for his mom’s interview with FOX4 Friday. Jardon’s mom, Christiana Pastrana, witnessed the shooting Thursday.

The men left the business and began fighting in the parking lot.

The court document shows surveillance cameras recorded what happened next. Taylor pulled a gun and the two men started fighting over the weapon. A woman who arrived at the store with Taylor gets out of a vehicle. Video shows her picking up the gun from Taylor.

The affidavit shows the woman pointing the gun at Santi and shooting him in the back.

“For sure, she knew they were a couple,” Jardon said of his mother’s thoughts at the time. “And what she did was just defending her husband slash boyfriend the way a girlfriend would of. She shot the guy sadly.”

After the shooting, Taylor and the woman left the parking lot.

Officers arrested Taylor a short time later. Court documents show the woman’s mother brought her back to the crime scene and turned her into police.

Federal prosecutors charged Taylor with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The woman has not yet been charged in the crime.

“She thinks they were both wrong in the way that they were fighting,” Jardon said of his mother’s thoughts at the time. “The fire fighter should have been more considerate of the way he was fighting. The same thing with the other guy. They should have been more considerate, and nothing would have happened of this yesterday.”

A fire department spokesperson said the Firefighters Union Local 42 and administrators with the fire department were with Santi’s family Thursday night and are also available to help any firefighters coping with the loss.

I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of a Kansas City firefighter earlier today in a neighboring community. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and all members of the Kansas City Fire Department.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information can call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-8477.