HAMMOND | Hammond police believe a man who shot and killed a would-be robber outside of a bar there early Sunday legitimately acted in self defense.

Hammond Police Chief Brian Miller said the 38-year-old Gary man was released after providing a statement to police about the incident.

"We do believe that his version of the story is true and credible," Miller said, adding that the man had a valid license to carry the weapon and purchased it legally.

Statements from witnesses to the attempted robbery and shooting assisted as well, he said.

"We had some outstanding participation by witnesses," Miller said.

The Gary man and his girlfriend were leaving their vehicle in the parking lot of McTavern's in the 7400 block of Indianapolis Boulevard early Sunday when two men approached them and tried to rob them, police said.

The Gary man took a handgun from his SUV and shot one of the suspects in the chest, who died at the scene.

Kenneth Denson, 17, of the 600 block of E. 131st Street in Chicago was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m., a Lake County coroner's office spokesman said Sunday.

The second suspect and an accomplice fled the scene in a vehicle and traveled north on Indianapolis Boulevard in East Chicago, where they crashed the vehicle before police apprehended them. Miller said an illegal narcotic was found in the vehicle.

As of 1:30 p.m., Hammond detectives were meeting with the Lake County prosecutor's office seeking charges against a 20-year-old man involved in the robbery. Lake County investigators are assisting in investigating the shooting, Miller said, to determine whether or not it was a justifiable homicide.

Miller said the weapon has yet to be recovered but police believe the would-be robbers were armed at the time of the incident.

In September, a 40-year-old Gary man, Eric Lowe, was shot and killed outside of McTavern's following a dispute. Lowe was a security worker for the bar.

-- Times Staff Writers Lauri Harvey Keagle and Bowdeya Tweh contributed to this report.