“Sorry, not real. Wasn’t even Russian.”
You’ve made my point. If the victim can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t it’s perfectly okay to draw and fire based on the perception the scammer has created. Had I witnessed the man firing into the mailbox and seen the gag set up, I’d have shot him dead on the spot.
I worked with a practical joker. He was mean. One day he’s furious and it turns out that nobody believes him. Ever. About anything. I rattled off the last six jokes (that knew about) that he’d played. He said, “But this time I’m serious.” I told him it didn’t matter as he’d ruined any credibility he had. He didn’t think that was fair.
When I was a child I’d never heard of April first. My dad woke me and said that my cat was dead. I got hysterical and my dad was really pissed off. Finally he showed up in my doorway and threw the cat at me. I clutched the cat to me but couldn’t stop crying. So, he did the correct thing and beat me. I never trusted him again. It didn’t matter that he was right or that he had evidence. He’d ruined any trusting relationship we could have had.
Playing jokes on people, especially jokes that look live violence is incredibly stupid in today’s world. Imagine how you’d feel if somebody played a “joke” and you believed them and shot them dead. Today I’m carrying a gun in my house as the lady next door’s house was robbed during the day. Normally I wouldn’t carry in the house. Fortunately, my friends all know my view on “jokes” and none of them would be that stupid.