It's a bit more complex than that, because (in most of the United States) intent becomes irrelevant once there is an actual death. If you bring a gun to a mugg

It's a bit more complex than that, because (in most of the United States) intent becomes irrelevant once there is an actual death. If you bring a gun to a mugging and it ends up killing someone - even if it went off accidentally - it's considered first degree murder. No matter what your intent, you willfully created the circumstance that led to someone's death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_murder_rule From a purely technical legal perspective, robbing someone with a gun isn't attempted murder until they get shot, and then it was premeditated willful murder.