[hole_n_one]

He then saw several men in dark clothing -- possibly one armed...

snip --

That resident ran to hide, while his roommate, armed with a shotgun, exchanged gunfire with the suspects.

If the latter is true, how can the former be in question...unless the intruders were making pow pow noises while pointing with their finger guns.

[OKSooner]

In Texas, anyone skulking around on someone else’s property after dark is presumed to be armed.

[TigersEye]

I think the author was trying to say that that was what the first resident thought he saw rather than giving an after the fact summary. A decent journalist would have written it this way ...

"He then saw several men in dark clothing and thought that one was possibly armed."

[JBW1949]

“...several men in dark clothing — possibly one armed...”

Did all the men only have one arm???