Today, gun-mounted ultra-bright tactical lights are so common, that if one is shined on you after midnight, from inside your screened porch, inside your 7 foot wall, then you have a reasonable fear that a bad guy is about to shoot you.
Look at any pistol ads in gun mags. Half of pistols today come with rails for mounting these lights.
If you wait, you may be shot first. That's what I'd be thinking. If it was police, I'd have been expecting to hear, "Police! Search warrant!" If not, I'm thinking its bad guys, and it would be a classic, "I was in fear for my life."
The police "always" say that, whether they really said it or not.