The whole “I’m not going to judge this guy” seems superfluous. I’m not judging him either. There will be a court for that, maybe, or his family.
I’m expressing an opinion about an incident. That is not the same as judging a person, it is discussing what would be the more appropriate action.
If we couldn’t discuss what would be best because it reflects poorly on someone who did something else, what is the point of an opinion thread?
In my house, if an alarm goes off, nobody is sleeping soundly in their bed. And the first thing I do is check to make sure everybody is accounted for.
Suppose a guy successfully broke in, kidnapped the daughter, and the daughter set off the alarm in the garage to warn her dad. You wouldn’t want to walk into the garage and shoot the first thing you see moving, it could be the daughter.
Or maybe the daughter or wife ran down to the garage just like you did to check out what the alarm was about.
Yes, you have no idea what the situation is. But the response to unknown is not random shooting at unidentified objects, it is to get the information you need about the situation. A police officer should be better at this than a typical citizen.
No argument there.
I would have made sure of my target, and quite possibly risked getting shot in the process. That is a decision everyone would have to make for themselves, weighing the risk of hurting a loved one versus being disabled or killed and unable to help your loved ones. Everyone paying attention has a plan, but plans don't survive hostile contact very often.
As for crashing the car, my years in EMS taught me speed only counts if you get there.