ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- A retired police officer carrying a handgun shot and wounded an armed man who apparently attempted to rob him in a residential North County neighborhood Wednesday, authorities said.

Responding to a report of a gunshot victim, officers found a wounded man in the parking lot of a Circle K convenience store in the 1000 block of West El Norte Parkway about 1:50 a.m., according to the Escondido Police Department.

About the same time, another man reported that he had just shot a man who tried to hold him up at gunpoint near Country Club Lane and Capistrano Glen -- less than two miles from where the shooting victim was found, Lt. Bob Benton said.

The description of the would-be robber matched that of the man found wounded in the parking lot, Benton said.

Investigators found that after getting shot, the injured man ran toward El Norte Parkway and into a nearby complex, where he asked a resident to call for help, Benton said.

The gunshot victim was taken to Palomar Medical Center, Benton said. His condition was not reported.

The retired police officer was not hurt.