A still unidentified twenty-something-year-old male jumped out of the bushs and attempted to rob a 67-year old man who was walking through Cobbs Creek Park  in Upper Darby, PA, yesterday afternoon.

He chose his intended victim … poorly.

An investigation is underway after police say a man attempted to rob a 67-year-old man and he shot and killed the alleged suspect.

Police say the man was walking near Cobbs Creek Park around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when the suspect attempted to rob him.

The 67-year-old had a concealed carry permit and authorities say he shot the alleged robber in the head, killing him.

The robber jumped out of the bushes near a paved walking trail and ran at the victim from behind. The victim heard the robber running up behind him, and turned to face the threat.

Instead of complying with the robber’s demands, the senior citizen grabbed the robber’s gun hand, and struggled for control of the weapon. The victim was thrown off balance during the struggle, but managed to draw his concealed handgun and fire one shot as he went down.

The single shot struck the robber in the head, killing him instantly.

The victim of the attack was taken the the hospital with chest pains due to the stress of the events, but is expected to be okay.

The robber’s handgun turned out to be a “toy” according to authorities, which we take to mean an airsoft gun.

Police saw no reason to detain the licensed concealed carrier, and frankly, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood seemed to admire the man when as Chitwood conducted an interview about the shooting with CBS-3 in Philadelphia.

Local residents were not surprised by the attack, and one local resident interviewed said that he’d be assaulted in the park himself.

Another resident summed up the day’s events nicely.

“People are getting fed up, so you have to protect yourself these days,” said neighbor Kathryn Cooper told Eyewitness News.

Different police departments report crime data differently on the state and federal level, so there isn’t good empirical data showing that the expansion of concealed carry is responsible for more criminals meeting their ends due to the increase of legal concealed carry. We can tell you, however, that as a site which chronicles “guns saving lives” stories and other defensive gun uses (DGUs),  local media nationwide certainly seem to reporting on these events with greater frequency in the past few years. Whether that reflects an increase in the number of concealed carriers shooting criminals, or just reflects the media’s willingness to report these stories, is something that we simply can’t know at this time.

We do suspect that the substantial number of concealed carriers in the United States—more than eleven million with permits, and perhaps another half-million in states that don’t require a permit to carry—is making an impact on violent crime, which continues a long term decline even as the number of gun owners in the United States reaches a new all-time high every single day.

It is worth noting that the National Rifle Association has filed lawsuits against a number of Pennsylvania cities that have unlawfully passed local ordinances that ban guns in public places including parks, in clear violation of the state’s preemption laws.

Supporters of gun control are of course furious that the NRA would fight against these illegal ordinances, and for the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms.