“self-defense” justifies discharging a firearm, regardless of who, what, when, where, why or how.
This is the problem with American mentality…
No, “self-defense” does not give you a free pass, it only gives you the right to defend yourself against a single specific threat, and only that threat [in more civilized countries, it also requires “with the minimum amount of force necessary”].
You don’t get to mow the crowd with an assault rifle set on full auto, or to nuke the whole mall with all bystanders in it, just because of “self-defense” against a single guy.
Soooo… why were only two charges “self-defense”?
Because they were specified as “aggravated”, which is kind of like saying “without reason”. Self-defense was the reason there, so he wasn’t found guilty of the aggravated charges.
The “non-aggravated” one though, needs more justifying than just “I was afraid”… and I think it should stick, because he should have known better than to start shooting in a mall.