Authorities in Houston responding to reports of a man who was shot and seriously injured outside of a convenience store last night. While they were processing the crime scene, officers were approached by a man who identified himself as the concealed carrier, and who admitted shooting the man for what sounds like a very valid reason.

According to the Houston Police Department, officers responded at 8 p.m. to a shooting call at the Amigo Convenience Store, located at Beechnut and Club Creek.

When HPD arrived at the scene, they found a male who had been shot several times. Police said he was transported to the hospital in serious condition.

While police were there, another male walked up and told police that he was the one who shot him, police said. He told them the man was attempting to rob him there in the parking lot.

Police said the alleged robbery victim, pulled out his gun when the suspect pointed his gun at him demanding his things. They both started shooting at each other, but the robbery victim managed to wound the suspect.

The robbery victim was not hurt, police said. The victim being robbed advised HPD that he had a concealed handgun license permit.

It’s not uncommon and is often exactly the right move for a concealed carrier to get away from the immediate threat (an armed robber and any possible accomplices) and move to cover. I would strongly suggest, however, that if you ever find yourself in such a position that once you have retreated to cover, that you get out your phone and you make the 911 call to ensure that the story responding officers are getting is yours.

It may sound trivial, but it is not. This is advice I was given by a retired St. Louis SWAT commander, which was echoed approvingly by officers in other departments around the country. If a passerby sees the shootout and calls 911, and reports your description as the man who shot the “victim” and ran away, police are going to be far more tense when they spot you than they may otherwise be if you call 911 and identify yourself as a concealed carrier who was forced to shoot an armed robber in self defense.

You don’t need to go into great detail on the phone with 911 about the shooting itself (indeed, lawyers will tell you not to), but it is important to establish that you are the victim and that the bad guy is the criminal so that responding officers don’t mistake you for the real threat.

Looking at the photo of the crime scene, it appears that more than a dozen rounds may have been fired (if each marker is a shell casing, we’re talking 15 rounds), and yet the downed suspect didn’t wound the concealed carrier and the concealed carrier didn’t kill the alleged robber. Real-world self-defense shootings are typically over in seconds, with both the good guy and bad guy typically moving as they engage one another.

If your only practice is at a static range, firing at a fixed target from a stationary position, you’re simply not training to win a fight.

If you’re interested in self-defense, you need to try to find a low restriction range that allows at least you to move around “no shoot” targets (above) from different positions, and which encourages you to use cover (below).

The investigation into this shooting continues.