A Philadelphia laundromat owner who chased after an unarmed robber and shot him twice in the chest will somehow not be charged.

A little before 4:30 Sunday afternoon along 5th Street in North Philadelphia, surveillance video captured the moments after a laundromat was robbed.

The laundromat owner can be seen running after the alleged robber.

“He told him three times, ‘Stop, stop, stop, I will shoot you first,’” said Angel Perez who overheard the incident from his store nearby.

Shots were fired, but it was the laundromat owner who shot the suspected robber. The owner shot the man running twice in the chest. During the gunfire, he also shot and innocent bystander in the hand.

All this after the alleged robber is seen on the surveillance video throwing down the $2,000 he reportedly stole.

“As the store owner was engaging this male, the male actually turned around. The store owner believe the individual had something in his hand either a knife or a gun, said Lieutenant Robert Brockenbrough with the Philadelphia Police Department.

Police at the scene did not find a gun or a knife on the suspect.

Still, authorities have decided not to charge the laundromat owner.

Authorities say they do plan to charge the alleged robber who is in the hospital listed in critical condition.

I’m frankly appalled at the decision of the prosecutors in this instance to not file charges against.

We have a natural right to bear arms for the defense of our lives, the lives of our loved ones, and any third party we decide to risk our lives to defend if there is a serious threat of bodily injury or death. This laundromat owner did not have his life at risk when he grabbed his gun and took off in pursuit of the the man who stole $2,000 from him. The threat had literally left the building, and he took off after the man, confronted him, and then shot at him five times, striking both the suspect and an innocent bystander.

The law of self defense isn’t about revenge.

The law of self defense isn’t about retribution.

The right of self-defense is about saving lives, not attempting to take them out of anger or malice.

It is only through dumb luck that this hot-head didn’t kill the innocent female bystander he shot on a busy urban street, or hit a child, or grandmother, or someone else who was simply minding their own business when this man took the law into his own hands.

Though he has apparently avoided criminal charges in the incident, the laundromat owner will very likely face another sort of justice for his rash actions, a civil lawsuit from the woman he shot and hit while shooting at the unarmed suspect.

This decision by the prosecutor sends the signal that vigilante “justice” is fine in Philadelphia, as long as you don’t shoot too many innocent bystanders, or wound them too severely.

Is that the kind of message they really meant to send?