Teenager Mistakes Little Brother for Intruder, Shoots Him

[Straw Man]

190. Sometimes there is, and sometimes there isn't.

There are patterns and probabilities that can be learned in advance. For example, if several armed robbers are holding a group of people at gunpoint and start to lead individual victims to another location, this often presages execution. At this point, reaction is indicated, whether if be attempted flight or attempted resistance with deadly force.

In the case of the woman and her child, the moment her assailant broke off his attack on her and turned his attention to the child would have been the time to resist. She didn't have much time, but possibly enough. Certainly at that point there was nothing to lose. He had repeatedly threatened to kill her child. And sometimes assaults stretch out over many hours, with many opportunities for resistance.

Someone who breaks into homes when the residents aren't there may be interested in stuff and nothing more. People who break into homes when the residents are there are playing a much different and far more dangerous game. Violence is virtually guaranteed in home invasions.