SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A man from Coffeyville, Kansas charged with a shooting outside Zan Night Club in downtown Springfield, Missouri is claiming self-defense.

Jawaun Thompson told an investigator he and two friends were spending a night out on the town. He says they didn’t have any problems when they went into the club Saturday night. Thompson told the investigator  he got a gun from his car after leaving the club because he says he “felt safer.”

Outside Zan’s, Thompson says a man hit him in the face with what he believed was a gun and at least two others tackled him. Thompson fired a couple of shots. A bullet hit one man in the side.

Thompson is charged with first degree assault and armed criminal action.