“As a side note, why did she go for a kill shot?”
There is no such thing as a “kill shot.” There are only shots. They land somewhere between where you aim and where you hit. Unlimited factors can effect shot placement including adrenaline, breathing, angle, hand placement, level of experience, etc.... However, if you have decided to use Deadly Force then you are attempting to kill. Period. If you incapacitate the Subject and he still breathes, then that is just a bonus.
Apologies, the “why not just wound the Subject” argument is a pet peeve of mine.
And warning shots or “shooting in the air” is illegal or, at a minimum, against policy in most, if not all, departments - local, state, and federal.
There is no such thing as a “kill shot.” .....DING, DING! That must be a new phrase from steroid hyped, SWAT trained wannabes who teach newbies how to handle arms, apparently. I had a guy on here a week or two ago who asked “What do you consider to be a kill shot?” I couldn’t believe I answered him, but he seemed to be a wannabe gunfighter. In essence, I said it was the shot to stop whatever action it was that made me pull the weapon to shoot his ass in the first place.
The first rule about shooting someone is that you should not do it unless you would have been justified in killing them if they died.
The difference between a “disabling shot” and a “killing shot” is as small an nicking an artery. Bullets do weird things when they hit hard objects - bones, buttons, belt buckles - they turn and tumble.