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But this begs the question:

Are they truly retreating or are they withdrawing in order to regroup?

If you pursue the enemy, you might be led into a trap. Taking a few pot shots at them as they were retreating was always acceptable "back in the day".

AF-Odin wrote:I like Dragonfighter's response. If they are fleeing after a break and enter or even if they have my laptop, I would let them go. Laptop is cheaper than the attorney bill. If, however, they have harmed someone in my family and are then fleeing all bets are off.

Let's say that someone comes up, stabs you, leaves the knife in you, and runs away. Well, you're no longer in danger of being stabbed, but would you shoot him as he was running away? Depending upon what part of the country you live in, it might very well be illegal to do that. In some places, it might be illegal, but no jury would ever vote to convict. I'm not sure what the Texas laws are on this, but I definitely would be inclined to shoot at him (even as he was running away) in whatever time I had before I lost consciousness due to loss of blood.