Now, just for the sake of argument, what if he realized my presence, told me to drop my weapon, or Fred was dead. Do I have the right, legally, to fill the back of his shirt with holes? Remember, Fred is directly in front of him, and I am somewhere off to the rear, about 45 degs. He never turns to address me directly, just commands me, and never takes the gun off Fred.
In Florida you can "put yourself in the victimsshoes" and legally defend their lives with lethal force just like you would if your own life was being threatened. You also have no legal duty to retreat from this scenario in the state of Florida.
In other words assuming I could kill him with out killing Fred at the same time the robber would get shot in the back.
I know what you are saying, but what if it was a 15 year old and the gun turned out to be a fake. Or worse yet, he was stealing the money to get his sick little brother a treatment his family couldn't afford.
Not my problem and I would not feel bad killing them in this scenario.
I think most (myself included) assume this is a dangerous killer, but what if it is not? Would this change your attitude on killing him??? After thinking about the situation I may try to get him to drop the gun, if he didn't then he is dead.
No I would not attempt to reason with him at all. The robber just knowing you were armed would likely only end in one of two ways. Either he freaks out and starts shooting or he gets scared and runs away possibly shooting on the way out the store. I am not willing to risk getting shot becauseI might feel bad that I shot someone else.
Do not pull your firearm unless you know that you are prepared to kill another human being with it. And once you have made the decision to pull your firearm DO NOT HESITATE to pull the trigger. Talking and reasoning is out the window at this point.