ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says the “Stand Your Ground” law he signed shouldn’t protect a neighborhood watch captain who hasn’t been arrested in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager.

Bush spoke Friday at the University of Texas at Arlington, just outside Dallas. He told reporters afterward that the Florida law doesn’t apply in the incident that left 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead. He says, “Stand your ground means stand your ground. It doesn’t mean chase after somebody who’s turned their back.”

The Dallas Morning News reports that Bush, who signed the law in 2005, called Martin’s death a tragedy.

George Zimmerman shot and killed Martin in Sanford, Fla., in February. Martin was walking back to the home of his father’s fiancée.

Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.