Police on Wednesday said a shooting Tuesday night in Queen Village that left two young men wounded was in self-defense.

They said the 65-year-old shooter, who has a valid permit to carry, was accosted by the two young men and he eventually shot them when they began to assault him.

The man was with his wife on the 700 block of S. 2nd Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when they walked past a 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old man. The wife told police one of the men asked her husband, "What are you looking at?" to which her husband replied, "What are you looking at?" The wife said both men then punched her husband and threw him to the ground and continued to beat him.

Two other witnesses also told police they heard the commotion, looked out their window and saw the two men beating the 65-year-old. Another witness who was walking by at the time told police the two men were standing over the 65-year-old and repeatedly kicking him.

The 65-year-old man took out a .45 caliber pistol and opened fire striking the 21-year-old in the shoulder and the 20-year-old in the stomach. The two men were taken to Jefferson Hospital where they are both in stable condition.

The 65-year-old suffered bruises to his face, head and chest. He was taken to Methodist Hospital where he was treated and released. The man's wife was not hurt during the incident.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office is currently reviewing the case. However, police told NBC10 they believe the shooting was done in self-defense.

"In any kind of situation like that, I mean the only appropriate amount of force would be to stop the aggressors," said Philadelphia Police Lieutenant John Stanford. "You can't become the aggressor. This man is very lucky he was able to defend himself and defend his wife because we don't know. We don't know if he didn't have a firearm, we don't know what we may have been talking about at this point in time."

Gilly Aroshas, who owns Gilly Jeans on South Street, told NBC10 he knows the couple, who also own a store in the neighborhood.

"Good for him that he knew how to protect himself," he said. "It could go any other way, the other side and he could get hurt or his wife. It's shocking to hear these kinds of things. You know I've been here for 30 years."