Court of public opinion rules: Shooting thief in back courageous
Farmer charged with shooting alleged thief overwhelmed by support
In my opinion, there was no reason to shoot the thief at all unless he posed a direct threat to the owner of the stolen property that was chasing him. The farmer successfully thwarted the theft of his ATV, so why shoot the guy in the back, afterwards? I suppose one argument would be "if he lets the thief get away, he will just do it again anyway." That maybe true, but, the thieves in question weren't a violent bunch, farmerman's life was in no danger so I think that was excessive force.
How so many people can side with the famer that shot him is beyond me.