A senior citizen in Dallas didn’t take kindly to a thug who tried to rob his wife.

A 36-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday night while he was attempting to rob an elderly couple outside a Northwest Dallas grocery store, police say.

The man, who has not been publicly identified, approached a man and a woman as they walked out of a grocery store and snatched a gold necklace from the woman’s neck, police said. The incident occurred around 7:15 p.m. at the Aldi in the 3000 block of Forest Lane near Webb Chapel Road.

The man knocked the woman to the ground and tried to rob her. The woman’s husband, 71-year-old Ronnie Lummus, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots at the man as he was attempting to flee in his car. The man got in his car but died before fleeing, police said.

Detectives interviewed Lummus, his wife and witnesses. Lummus has a valid concealed handgun license. He told officers that he was afraid the man would harm him or his wife during the robbery, police said.

This is one of those cases where the victim’s age will possibly play a factor in the investigation. While the grand jury will likely have the option of indicting Mr. Lummus if they really want to if he shot the criminal while the criminal was fleeing, there isn’t a prosecutor alive that wants to try to senior citizen who is “guilty” of defending his wife against a thug who physically assaulted her.