And the moral of your story is........... (insert drum roll here)

Don't fucking take people hostage.

We can sit here and point the finger all we want, and come up with all the excuses (insane, retarded, etc.). But I say fuck that. There isn't always any time to sort that out. The marshal had to make a split-second decision, and he made the right one.

It's like people who defend a douchebag who got his ass capped after he broke into somebody's house. When you threaten someone else's life, be prepared to die yourself. It just might happen.