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AUSTINTOWN, OH — A man who crashed into his ex-girlfriend’s car, climbed out with a gun, and advanced on the people inside was stopped with a single shot. Police are now calling it self-defense.

Austintown police released the details Tuesday about the May 13 shooting at New Road and Laurie Drive. Chief Valorie Delmont said the case began as a domestic situation and ended with a dead attacker.

As reported by WKBN, Zachary Fisher, 30, was driving when his vehicle crashed into a car driven by his ex-girlfriend. She had two children in the vehicle, along with a man in the passenger seat.

After the crash, Fisher got out with a gun in his hand. Police say he got into a physical altercation with his ex-girlfriend, then moved toward the passenger side where the man was sitting.

The passenger fired once. Delmont’s release said he acted “in an effort to protect himself and the others,” and the single shot incapacitated Fisher.

Officers tried to give Fisher first aid before an ambulance arrived. He later died at St. Elizabeth Health Center.

Delmont said the investigation is continuing and her department is consulting the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office. For now, she said, the incident is being viewed as an act of self-defense. Some of the evidence is still being analyzed.

More from USA Carry:

An armed man chased down the mother of two kids, wrecked her car, and came at the people inside with a gun already in his hand. The passenger did not have the luxury of waiting to see what happened next. He had seconds, and he used one shot to end a deadly threat before it reached the back seat.

That is the entire reason the right to carry exists. When a violent person decides someone is going to die, the only thing that reliably closes the gap is a defender who is ready and able to act. One shot stopped the threat and very likely saved an entire family.