Everytime I hear something like this, I wonder how people would react if it was portrayed honestly in an old Western movie. The Sheriff shows up with a posse of 12 men, armed and with scarves over their faces. They knock once on the door, then kick it in. The "bad guy" is crouched behind the bed, his girlfriend and her children are hiding in a nearby closet. The Sheriffs posse begins shooting as soon as they see the man, knowing that he will be armed because well, who isn't armed in their own house, with the possibility of Indians, or thieves (read Indians or bank robbers). They then drag the girlfriend from the scene with her arms severely twisted behind her back, tearing a rotator cuff (most common injury), and watch as the "bad guy" dies. They laugh and brag that their shot was the deadly one. Sheriff, instead of looking at the men with a sad look as in the old Western, reassures them that they did the right thing. The judge helps with the coverup, as well as the local newspaper editor. After all, this guy was "BAD".
You forgot the dog, though. Gotta shoot the dog, or even better, the horse.