thesizzler, the factor you're probably missing here is that in real combat people are scared ****less, which leads to weird effects.
Shooting someone won't always kill them. Stabbing someone rarely does. Generally both parties get stabbed and shot and then (barring prompt attention from someone else) they both die.
If you (or I, or most anyone else) were in a life threatening situation involving violent attack, we'd likely panic, no matter how well-trained. Everyone wants to be a badass (not singling you out, thesizzler), but the costs are high, the damage permanent, and the benefits minimal.
That's another thing: This isn't combat. The parents
weren't scared ****less because their eyes were closed, and by the time the father realized what was actually going on, things were too late to do anything. If it were a knife the kid had, the situation probably would've ended with the same outcome.
Even if it
were combat, would a person who was shot, even if he's not dead, be in a situation to do stabbing? Let's say he was shot in the leg, and it was a really lucky shot and his femur snapped. He's not walking anywhere. Let's say his femur didn't snap. That means it probably went into his muscle or joints, in either case he can't move as fast and his knifing abilities are hampered. He's still capable of doing damage, but would he A) be too preoccupied with pain to continue fighting, B) be too preoccupied getting killed and run, or C) possibly be willing, but physically unable to move. In any of the 3 said cases, the person with the gun would most likely win. And given the fact that these people are untrained, they most likely
would panic and have one of the three happen.
Depending on how close the guy with the knife is when he's seen, several things could happen:
>30ft - hallways, large room. Guy probably gets shot at least once, I'd think the guy with the gun has a big advantage here.
20-30ft - hallways, some rooms. Less chance of a guy getting shot, proportionally higher chance of person getting stabbed.
10-20ft - family rooms, kitchens, medium sized rooms. Generally really cluttered. It's possible that the gunmen might have a hard time getting a shot off in a kitchen because of counters and cabinets, but the knifer might have a problem getting to the gunmen. Depending on the amount of obstructions, my money is on the kniver. If everything is at the edge of the room, then I'd imagine the gunmen has at best a half chance of being untouched.
3-10ft - most rooms in mid-priced houses I've been in. I'd say that this is fairly similar to below.
0-3ft - closets, bathrooms, small rooms. My money is on the knife guy, depending on how messy the rooms are. Either way, the guy with the gun would probably get stabbed at least once. But there is a chance that with the guys so close, that people will get lucky and shoot someone through an eyesocket, or snap the neck causing an instant death, or even them getting stabbed in the eye socket. Slit throats would probably incapacitate the gunmen, and while it'd take some time to bleed to death, I doubt any untrained person would be capable of shooting the attacker to death.
Really, I'd think the first hit decides the fight with untrained people. But at ranges less than 5 feet, if they're not both dead, then the gunmen is dead.
Relating this back to the topic at hand, I don't know the makeup of that family room. Either way, even if the father had a knife, or the kid had a knife and the father had a gun, I doubt the situation would be different. Even if there was a scuffle, the kid had the element of surprise, although he probably wouldn't have expected a fight.
