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LIMESTONE COUNTY, AL — A man who investigators say approached two people at a boat ramp, pointed a gun at them and demanded a wallet was shot by one of the people he tried to rob, and he is now in custody.

The sheriff’s office says 46-year-old Marvin Blair Fletcher confronted the pair on August 12 while armed with a handgun, as reported by WHNT News 19. Investigators say one of the two victims drew a firearm and shot Fletcher in self-defense.

He ran from the scene.

A boat ramp is worth naming for what it is. A transitional space, one of those in-between places where you are moving from one environment to another with your hands full and your attention split. Parking lots, gas pumps, ATMs, boat ramps. Open, low traffic, water at your back, limited ways out, and no counter to duck behind. Nowhere to retreat to and no crowd to disappear into. Whoever fired had seconds and very little room to work with.

Deputies later located Fletcher with a gunshot wound, according to investigators. A search of his home turned up a gun that investigators say matched the description the victim gave.

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That recovery matters more than it might look. The victim’s account of the weapon was on the record before deputies went looking, and what they found lined up with it. Physical evidence that corroborates the person who fired is the difference between a story and a case.

Fletcher is in custody. An arrest is an allegation, not a conviction, and he is presumed innocent unless a jury says otherwise. The victim who fired has not been publicly identified, and no charging decision involving that person has been announced. Prosecutors make that final call.