Police in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights say they're not seeking charges against a licensed concealed carry holder who shot and killed a man on Sunday, ruling it a justifiable use of force. 

It was broad daylight when authorities responded to an apartment in Arlington Heights, Illinois around 1:45 Sunday afternoon after a resident called to report a shooting. When they arrived, they quickly discovered a 33-year-old man in the apartment with fatal gunshot wounds who had "unlawfully entered" the woman's residence just a few minutes beforehand. 

The release states that the woman who lives in the apartment called police to report that the man, now identified by the Cook County medical examiner’s office as Jimmie Jackson Franklin, had entered her home and was shot by someone who was visiting her.

“The [woman] did have an active Order of Protection prohibiting contact” by Franklin, authorities stated in the release.

Arlington Heights police haven't released any details of how Franklin managed to make his way into the apartment, so it's unclear if the front door was unlocked or if he used force to gain entry, but according to the victims once he was inside he almost "“immediately attacked a male guest, quickly gaining a position of physical dominance." 

Fighting for his life, the guest, whose name has not been released by the authorities, drew his pistol and fired a single round, striking Franklin in his upper body. 

The resident and her male guest went to the Arlington Heights Police Department after the incident to supplement investigative efforts while forensic technicians processed evidence at the scene.

According to police, the description of the events that occurred were corroborated by physical evidence, forensically extracted data and witness statements. Detectives reviewed the matter with prosecutors from the Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney's Office, and a decision to not seek criminal charges was made.

I've criticized Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for her policies and practices plenty of times in the past, but this time around her office made the right call. Franklin wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the woman whose apartment he unlawfully entered, and he clearly wasn't there to drop off a cake or some cookies. We might not know what his ultimate intentions were, but once he physically assaulted the woman's guest, the armed citizen had every right to protect himself and the woman from further harm. Charging him with a crime for defending himself and Franklin's intended victim would have been an injustice. 

There's nothing wrong with seeking a protective order when circumstances warrant, but this incident is another reminder that ultimately, it's a piece of paper, not a suit of armor. It's always good to have a plan if the subject of that order decides to ignore it, and in this case, the woman's guest was able to prevent Franklin from doing serious harm to everyone inside that apartment. It's great that he was there to stop the threat, but I hope that going forward the victim will choose to get her own concealed carry license and be ready to defend herself if need be.