If four black youts approached you in the subway and demanded money, this would be the ONLY way to defend yourself without risk losing everything, including wallet and credit cards, and probably getting beaten up or killed just as a little extra.
So, either he gave them everything, or he shot all of them on the spot before they could gang up on him.
Not much other choice. And if he’d hesitated, they’d have found the gun, and probably used it on him for practice.
I used to take the subway in those days, to get to work in the Village. There were muggers everywhere, before Rudy cleaned things up.
I remember one of my co-workers, who commuted from New Jersey, told me that he kept a $20 bill in his sock, at the bottom of his foot, so if he got mugged and lost his wallet and cash, he’d still have enough to get home with. We had this conversation after someone was robbed, shot, and killed on the sidewalk just outside the office.
Back in the day, when I visited NYC from Connecticut, it was standard operating procedure to split the majority of your cash amongst your person - both socks, a couple of pockets, and $30 in your wallet - just enough to keep the thugs from getting angry at the lack of a good haul.