I AM a criminal defense lawyer. NONE OF WHAT I AM SAYING WILL BE CONSTRUED BY THE READER TO BE PROFESSIONAL OR LEGAL ADVICE AND WE DO NOT HAVE AN ATTORNEY/CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. Now that that is out of the way:
My experience as a criminal lawyer is in the military, but I work with private attorneys regularly, and I also worked in civilian law firms.
In the Army, I've defended very serious criminal allegations. I actually have a case right now where I am defending a man against an assault with a weapon charge. It takes a lot of work but I am very optimistic we'll get a good result.
In the Army, I used to be a prosecutor and have prosecuted very serious criminal behavior.
I am very familiar with billing hours. A retainer is small sum that your lawyer keeps in an account to bill against you. Lawyers generally bill in 6 minute increments (factors of 10 per hour). So a lawyer that charges $200 an hour will bill you $20 for any increment of 6 minutes that he spends on your case file, phone, etc. He can use paralegals, clerks, or interns at a lower cost for things like photocopying, errands, etc. He will also have a Private Eye on staff in some capacity.
A lawyer can quickly burn through a $1000 retainer, if you figure that's only 5 hours of work on a felony case. A felony murder case could easly run you $50,000, or any portion thereof if you get it dismissed early on through lack of evidence it may only cost you $5,000
It's a good idea to interview some now and pick one and give him a retainer in the event you ever need it.
I won't tell YOU what to do. But here's what I do:
I have joined the armed citizens network, which Massad also recommends and is somehow associated with... It's about 20 cents per day for a membership.
http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/
They have a network of criminal defense attorneys supposedly experienced in self defense shootings. They also deposit a life-saving $10,000 into your attorney's account immediately if you are charged in a self-defense shooting.
I can tell you from a lot of experience, what happens in the first hours (statements, evidence gathered, opinions formed, etc.) will typically make or break a case. For instance, locating and interviewing witnesses and getting them locked down on their eyewitness statements is critical. The police are looking for "who dun it." You're lawyer (and his PI) are looking for evidence that says "You didn't do it." Big difference. Having a lawyer immediately avialable is sooo critical that I cannot emphasis it enough. My clients who walk, are typically guys who didn't make a statement. My clients who go to prison, ALWAYS made some sort of statement that incriminated them.
I understand what statements to make and when to shut up. You should invoke immediately. However if you are inclined to talk, the only statements that you should make are things like, "That man just threatened me with a knife/gun etc and I was in fear for my life so I acted in self defense. I want to press charges against him. I don't want to make any more statements and want to talk to my lawyer." I will tell you this - aside from these types of statements, I would say nothing. You'd be amazed at what incriminating stuff just pours out of the mouths of suspects!
As for the "I wasn't the shooter" or "I wasn't there" defense... with todays forensics and widespread cameras, it's unlikely you are at the scene but mistaken as the shooter. LEO are adept at figuring out who did the stabbing, shooting, etc. I suppose if it wasn't clear, then of course you don't admit to being the one... but in a situation where you're standing there with a gun and it just comes down to who was the aggressor, there is some wisdom in you immediately telling the cops that the other guy was the aggressor and you were in fear of your life and defending yourself. Sometimes the first one to tell the story and cry victim (particularly in a close call situation) is the person that is believed. It's human nature.
The seriousness, technicality, and costs associated with a criminal allegation is staggering and life changing. I'd recommend putting some thought into this today.