A pair of armed robbers targeted the wrong man in a South Side neighborhood Friday in Chicago, sending one into a dead sprint and the other to the morgue.

A man with a concealed-carry license fatally shot a would-be robber in Chatham Friday afternoon, sources said.

The 23-year-old man was walking in the 8200 block of South Ingleside about 1:54 p.m. when another male pulled out a gun and tried to rob him, according to police.

A fight broke out and the 23-year-old, who was licensed to carry a firearm, pulled out his own gun and shot the would-be robber in the head, killing him, sources said.

The concealed carrier was shot in the hip during the exchange of shots, but was brought to an area hospital and stabilized. The other robber saw his buddy’s head turned into a canoe and decided that he had a pressing engagement across town.

What can we learn from this shooting?

Action is faster than reaction.

The crooks got the drop on the concealed carrier, but the concealed carrier was able to turn the tables when he went on offense and delivered an accurate shot to the criminal’s head. This does not necessarily mean that the concealed carrier got his shot off first, but he did dramatically change the odds when he was able to get his gun into the fight.

You can do everything right and still get shot.

The concealed carrier got his gun into the fight, but the robber still managed to get shots off and got at least one hit. Mentally prepare yourself before the fight with the knowledge that you may get shot, but that you will probably survive if you can keep the bad guy from continuing to shoot you.

Handgun bullets are relatively slow-moving and cause much less tissue damage than rifle rounds. You may be able to survive a hot or two or three… but you need to keep from being shot as much as possible, and the best way to wreck his marksmanship is to start putting holes in his body, too.

Marksmanship matters.

In this instance, our concealed carrier put a round into the head of the shooter, and appears to have ended the fight immediately by not being the first shooter or even the first person to make a hit, but by making the first critical hit.

While the person who fires first doesn’t always win, the person who gets the first critical hit usually ends up in a much better position to determine the outcome of the fight.

The best way to win a gunfight is to avoid getting into one. If that fails, make your hits, quickly, and don’t stop working the problem until the threat goes away.