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Originally Posted by Lebenz
Here’s a scenario: you witness someone assaulting someone else. You tell them to stop The person doing the assaulting (the perp) turns and comes towards you. You have a hand gun. You also have a carry permit. You aim the gun at them and demand they lay on the ground. The perp doesn’t stop coming toward you. You fire several times. One shot misses the perp and hits someone else. The perp is shot and down and a bystander is shot and down. Meanwhile someone calls the cops. They show up. Do you end up going to prison for being a good albeit violent samaritan and coming to the defense of someone unknown?
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The first question I would ask you is this: was the "perp" assaulting the victim with a weapon of some sort? I would have to think that the reasonableness of response would play into this question. If the perp wasn't using a weapon of some sort, how reasonable is it to escalate to deadly force?
I think the best test would be what would happen if it was a police officer that discharged their gun in the exact same situation. Would they be liable if they struck an innocent third party? If they would be, then it is reasonable to assume the samaritan would be as well.