To add to this comment…

People turn into animals under pressure and they cope with stress in unusual or seemingly unreasonable ways.

Taunting someone that you view as a threat to your safety may be a coping mechanism that serves to calm your own nerves, by making light of the situation and maintaining a sense of dominance over the aggressor.

It seems cold but in a life threatening situation there isn’t much room for thoughtful compassion, you have to do what you have to do to survive and there is no way to know what’s coming next. Even if things seem to have deescalated, it doesn’t end for a very very long time, thats what PTSD is all about.

Now, people who are engaging in illegal activity are people. I’ve been held at gun point, I’ve been shot at, and robbed. As much as I think these people deserve to go to jail I also hope that they eventually learn that what they did was wrong and want forgiveness. I would forgive them. All people are victims whether they know it or not, in various capacities.

The people that shot at me, probably had a harder life growing up and this is them fighting for a better life, as fucked up as it is, and as wrong as I think they are… Now, even with all of that said if I had a gun when this happened and I could get some good shots in, I might be talking some shit and I dont see that those two things conflict. I can be understanding of their situation, feel for them and feel bad for having to shoot them but also be taunting them at the same time. When I was robbed I jokingly told them to calm down as I was popping the register, they were pointing the pistol point blank at my face as I was being slightly dismissive of them, partially because thats who I am and also, Im sure, as a way to release tension.