Opinions on a possible robbery situation...

[nightowl64]

Lets say an armed robbery is going on in a small store while you're there...the 2 robbers after pointing, threatening and taken the cash are just heading out with one leading the other and you decide to stop them...would you fire on the lead perp or the one trailing?..they are quartering away from you so you could shoot either one.

 

[jasmith85]

I would just let them leave. If I am understanding the situation correctly it calls for shooting them in the back, and robbery or not I would be afraid that would cause some legal issues for me.

 

[JohnKSa]

Should be posted in T&T, not General Handguns.

I'd move it except that it's not really a reasonable hypothetical situation since it doesn't provide justification for the use of deadly force.

It is unlikely that any citizen would be within his/her rights to shoot a person leaving the scene of a robbery unless that person posed an imminent deadly threat to citizen in question.

The lawful use of deadly force by the general citizenry is to prevent a violent felon from perpetrating serious bodily injury or death upon an innocent person; it is not a power granted to allow people to apprehend or kill criminals at their discretion.

The person in the hypothetical situation would likely be charged with murder (or at least assault with a deadly weapon) if he/she "decided" to shoot the departing robbers.