No. They should have walked away. The weapons are for protection, not to get the upper hand in a stand off - for the very reason of what happened in this instance.
If you are carrying as a CCW holder or otherwise, you do not seek out conflict. To the contrary, you avoid it knowing that if you need to - and only if you need to - you have protection with your weapon.
They deserve to go to jail for a long, long time.
Yes, all parties involved should have behaved more like grown-ups than children.
While they deserve to go to jail for a long time, I’m not going to shed a tear for the deceased who by reports I read was a violent person with an extensive criminal record. And what you say about the guys armed with guns who should have walked away, the same holds true for the deceased who himself was armed with a deadly weapon and should have backed down and walked away.
I believe you are asserting rules that don’t necessarily apply here. Being armed in a place you have every right to be, giving fair warning, and not withdrawing is NOT provoking, nor inciting.
You seem to believe an armed CCW permit holder is obligated to use every means available to preserve the life of an assailant, and that standard is by no means universal, nor desirable.
Amen.