Since you were obviously an eyewitness, you should call the Sanford police department ASAP and tell them what you saw!!
He took a gun on neighborhood watch. He knew what he was up against. His record of scores of 911 calls attests to that.
Some sort of club would have been more appropriate. It is visible mostly non-lethal and would have been a visual deterrent. All he took was a concealed weapon. He didn’t want anyone to know he was armed.
That is the judgement angle.