WRONG! VERY WRONG! A post-shooting mentality is NOT one of hysteria like we see portrayed in the media. Law & Order is not an accurate depiction of a law-abiding citizen's reaction to a shooting.
When you're in a fight for your life, everything about you changes. Your mentality changes: fight or flight. Your vision narrows. Your hearing diminishes. You don't pay attention to anything but the immediate threat. You sweat heavily, a natural defense mechanism to make you "slippery" as a victim.
Having been in this situation TWICE in my life, I can tell you that the aftermath was inexplicably peaceful. There was a sense of euphoria. The world was quiet. I didn't even hear the police screeching down the street. You stand there in bewilderment. Your body is still in that fight or flight mode. Your vision is blurred and centrally focused. Your hearing is still dull and tinny. It takes minutes if not hours to fully recover from an assault. You're not thinking straight.
Police are actually trained to deal with these situations through diversion therapies. That's a big reason why they're put on administrative leave after a shooting. It's not just for the investigation, but it's a time to allow the officer sufficient time to mentally recover.
In combat soldiers, a constant state of alertness and a constant barrage of these situations creates what we now call "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder." The body's instinct is to return to that level of calm, but if you're constantly under duress, that calm never returns. Your set point is raised. You are hyperalert. This state of being is not conducive to sanity. The body is constantly producing the stress hormone cortisol.
Zimmerman's post-shooting reaction was exactly what I expected to hear. The "stylized" version we see on TV and in movies is NOT realistic and is often what hoplophobic lefties believe to be the truth when in reality, not a single one of them has been in the fight for their life and would likely not recover either.
That is very wrong, and from what I know, Zimmerman’s first words to the neighbor were something akin to “Just call the police”.
The after effects of epinephrine (aka adrenaline) are interesting - while it’s still in the system and no longer needed, once it’s out of your system and you’ve got no blood sugar left, and (as might happen to GZ after a year of fear over this kangaroo court) after a large number of epinephrine events (PTSD).
While it’s still in your system, you can seem jumpy because you react far too quickly to little things, or you can seem unnaturally calm because you have a lot of subjective time to process what is being said/done before it’s time to respond, so that your reactions all seem extremely rational and smooth.
As for once the epinephrine clears your system, it’s a lot like an athlete an hour after a marathon or championship game. You don’t seem like you want to do anything or react to anything - apparent calm.
And in the long run? Zimmerman will probably get meaningful death threats for a long time, and multiple threatening actions that may be real or just intended to intimidate/provoke. If he avoids PTSD, it will be a miracle.