A would-be robber made a fatal mistake on Friday morning when he targeted a Chicago man who had the means and motivation to defend his life. 

According to authorities, a 60-year-old man was confronted outside his home around 5:30 this morning by an armed suspect who demanded the victim hand over his belongings. Instead, the man chose to fight back.

The victim, who is a valid FOID and CCL holder, pulled out his gun and the two traded shots. The suspect. whose age was unknown, was shot several times throughout the body and was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not yet been released by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The 50-year-old was shot in the back and the arm. He was also taken to Christ Medical Center where he was listed in stable condition, police said.

According to CWB Chicago there's been a string of armed robberies reported in the city over the past couple of days, though most of those incidents involved multiple assailants and not a lone suspect like the one who was shot and killed on Friday morning. 

Police responded to two robbery reports in the area on Wednesday evening, the first in the 800 block of North Paulina around 6:28 p.m. A 21-year-old man was walking when two men walked up, implied they had a gun, and demanded his property, Chicago police said in a media statement. 

About an hour later, another man reported that he was robbed of his wallet, phone, and computer near Chestnut and Noble in Noble Square. Two men confronted him, and he believed one of them displayed a gun, according to preliminary information.

Both holdups are similar to robberies reported in the 500 block of North Racine and 1400 block of West Chicago around the same time on Tuesday. The victims have generally described the suspects as Black men in their early 20s. One has been wearing a red or bright-colored hoodie, while the other wears black clothing.

Later, around 12:15 a.m. today, a man was robbed at gunpoint in the 100 block of North Sangamon. He told police that two men, including one in a green work vest, got out of a black pickup truck to rob him on the street. Both robbers displayed guns, he said.

CWB Chicago went on to detail two other armed robberies that took place on Friday morning; one in which a group  of five men, at least some of them armed, robbed two victims in the Logan Square neighborhood around 1:30 a.m., and another incident about two hours later where a man who was walking down a street in the Wicker Park neighborhood was robbed at gunpoint by four individuals who were in a silver sedan. 

Illinois gun laws aren't doing a thing to stop these increasingly common and brazen attacks on citizens, and Chicago politicians have placed so many restraints on police that criminals have little fear of being arrested or prosecuted for these crimes. Thankfully, we've also seen an increasing number of defensive gun uses from the Chicagoland area over the past couple of years, and I hope that more Windy City residents will recognize that their personal safety is their responsibility. City leaders are too busy coddling criminals to offer meaningful protection to law-abiding citizens, and while a concealed carry license isn't a suit of armor or a guarantee that you'll be unscathed in an encounter with an armed robber or car jacker, lawfully carrying a firearm at least gives you a chance to fight back and to live another day.