[Simon Green]

I see nothing wrong with firing a shot over the head of someone who was running away from your property as if they had done something.

You’re that confident that you won’t hit anything down range when firing over someone’s head? There is no circumstance in which one should fire a “warning shot”. Period.

[DiogenesLamp]

You’re that confident that you won’t hit anything down range when firing over someone’s head?

Yes. Shotgun pellets lose effective velocity within a relatively short distance. Shoot into the air, and by the time they come down they are pretty much harmless.