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Kid says - I was just sending a message.

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Great line. But won't work in this case.

The "message" in the movie was received and understood by those for whom it was intended.

I'm not against guns. I had a gun on the premises of a business I owned. I would not have used it as the OP described. A shot in the back of a fleeing perp is, IMO, cowardly. A well-placed shot in his ass, thigh, or lower, would have gotten nothing but major lawsuits.

I'd have emptied my clip over his head and around him. That might have been a good "message" to him, and him alone. Well, maybe he'd have talked to his buds about it (after he'd changed his underwear) and they'd have gotten a little hint.