In a practical sense, that’s true. However, if you claim that it was a “warning shot”, then you are telling the cops that in fact they weren’t close enough to be a threat. An anti-gun prosecutor would have no problem claiming that your recklessness lead to the “victim’s” death.
If you shoot at someone in self defense, you always tell the cops that you were shooting to kill because you were in fear for your own life. You never fire a “warning shot”. You never shoot to wound. “Honestly officer, it was him or me. I tried my best to kill him.”