[Zhang Fei]

“Because kids are horrified and in terror when their parents are getting gunned-down in their suburban driveway.”

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They’re 16, not exactly toddlers. If you’re old enough to hand a disassembled gun over to your mom, you’re old enough to be manning a scoped AR-15 to provide overwatch as your parents, the family breadwinners, are trying to make it home safely after an exhausting 11-hour day at the family restaurant. They had been robbed half-a-dozen times previously. The correct response was either to not resist or overwhelming firepower. They chose a middle course and paid the price.

[Mears]

Good lord,are you accusing the kids?

.

[Blue Jays]

"...not toddlers..."

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You posed several questions of why the teenagers didn’t do this, that, and the other tactical things.
My insight is they were likely behaving like typical North Carolina high school sophomores and not necessarily living in Code Red status.

[fortes fortuna juvat]

>>The correct response was either to not resist or overwhelming firepower.<<

Not resisting would probably have gotten all of them killed.
Overwhelming firepower is really the only correct response.