All too often the anti-gun media labels a self-defense shooting as an act of vigilantism, but in this case it was an act of vigilantism that led to a defensive gun use. 

Police in Sioux Falls, South Dakota say two people were fatally shot at a gas station on Thursday night, but the shooters aren't facing any charges. According to authorities, the armed citizens were acting in self-defense when they were attacked by multiple individuals in what police believe was a case of mistaken identify.

It all started when a 23-year-old man was jumped by several people and assaulted. The victim believed that a group of motorcyclists at a nearby gas station were responsible, so he, along with a 44-year-old man, a 14-year-old boy, and a 42-year-old woman headed to the gas station to confront the motorcyclists. 

According to police the three had bats and confronted a group of people with motorcycles. The 23-year-old man swung a bat at a 26-year-old. 

The 26-year-old shot the 23-year-old with a gun and the 44-year-old, who also was swinging a bat at him, according to police. [Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam] Clemens said the 42-year-old woman pointed a gun at the 26-year-old and he shot her as well.  

“It was a case of mistaken identity,” Clemens said. 

Clemens said the 26-year-old hasn’t been arrested and he was cooperative with police. Court documents say the 26-year-old fired his gun “in self-defense” while ducking to avoid being hit with a bat. 

Even if the 23-year-old had correctly identified his assailants, he wouldn't have been acting in self-defense by returning to the scene and attacking them. Once the original assault had ended and the attackers left the scene, the threat to his life was over. The 23-year-old was looking for retribution when he should have been seeking justice, which would have involved reporting the original assault to police. 

The armed citizen who fatally shot the 23-year-old and the 44-year-old who were attacking him with baseball bats, on the other hand, was entirely justified in using lethal force to protect himself. South Dakota has a Stand Your Ground law, so the armed citizen had no duty to retreat, but given that the 42-year-old woman who was part of the posse also pointed a gun at him, I'd argue that retreat wasn't really an option to begin with. 

South Dakota's self-defense statutes do require that only "reasonable force" be used, but again, it's hard to argue that the armed citizen used excessive force when defending himself against multiple attackers, at least one of whom was armed with a gun herself. Fists and feet aren't much of a match against two baseball bats and a handgun, and it seems entirely reasonable to me that when four strangers suddenly appeared and attacked, the 26-year-old would use his gun in self-defense. 

The sad thing is that this defensive gun use didn't need to happen. The 23-year-old who initiated the assault on the lawful gun owner may have been a victim of an attack just a few minutes earlier, but he had no right to take the law into his own hands. Calling 911 and reporting the original assault probably wouldn't have been as emotionally satisfying as making his attackers pay, but it's what the law required... and perhaps more importantly, it would have saved his life.