[Double Naught Spy]

Of course it can happen. I didn't see in the other thread where anyone said it was just a fantasy. Besides, your scenario wasn't about the homeowner getting shot and in your scenario he had a gun. This guy didn't seem to do that well.

What spacemanspiff was referring to as fantasy was your absolute knowledge of events about which in real life folks don't usually have absolute knowledge. Me, I am with you. I know who is and is not supposed to be in my home and those that matter to me know that if they wish to be in my home, they will let me know. There are intruders and there are guests. However, beyond that aspect, my knowledge gets awfully fuzzy at night, in the dark, with dark intruders. In the thread, it seemed like the homeowner did have this amazing absolute knowledge, or what I would call, total situational awareness. That isn't very realistic. For example, how did the homeowner know there were only 2 people in his house? He only discovered 2 in the house, but doesn't know if some have already gone upstairs.

This is probably the #1 problem with scenarios. Often parameters are given as absolutes when a person who is at the receiving end of the crime has no idea as to whether the information he has at the time is actually complete. Here is a scenario from our local police that actually happened. An officer approached a man with a gun who was breaking into a car in the parking lot. The officer ordered the man to cease and show his hands. The man turned quickly and fired. The officer was well prepared. He was in uniform, wearing body armor, had a call in for backup, and already had his sights trained on the suspect, the singular suspect he reported breaking into the car. When the suspect moved, the officer shot him twice in the chest and the suspect went down. The suspect's shot went wide. As the suspect appeared to be still alive, the officer approached with his gun still drawn. His obvious goal was to disarm the suspect and secure him. That didn't happen. The officer was shot dead. Both the suspect and officer died. What happened?

Unbeknownst to the officer, the suspect had a partner working in another part of the parking lot. The partner heard the officer giving orders to the suspect and knew his buddy was in trouble. With all of the officer's focus on the downed man with whom he had just exchanged shots, he apparently never saw or heard the accomplice walk up from behind and shoot him in the head with a shotgun.

How could this happen with just one suspect? Simple. There was more than one and the officer had no way to know it.