One wonders what could have happened...

...here...

YATESVILLE, Pa. — Hobbled by a broken ankle, the estranged wife of a man killed in a shootout with Pennsylvania state troopers managed to fight him off as he threatened her with a gun before he kidnapped their 9-year-old son, the woman's friend said.
Daniel Autenrieth was supposed to leave the couple's three children at the curb during a custody exchange Sunday night. Instead, he carried their half-asleep 3-year-old to the door, and Susan Autenreith let him inside, her friend and family spokeswoman Torrie Clarke said.
After telling the children to go upstairs, Daniel pointed a gun at her and said, "If you don't talk to me, this isn't going to end well for anybody," Clarke told The Associated Press Friday in the first full account of what took place inside the home.
...
Susan Autenrieth, who had recently broken her ankle, screamed for the children to lock themselves in the upstairs bathroom and ran for the back door. Her husband tried to stop her from getting out, repeatedly slamming the door on her leg cast. But she fought him off, got outside and yelled for a neighbor to call 911.

...if this man's wife had had a gun of her own and was willing to use it to protect herself and her kids. That whole thing could have ended right there before the cops were even called and Trooper Miller might have lived to see another day. There are a ton of what-ifs there, I know, but I still think that question's a perfectly legitimate one.