Don'tcha just love stories like this? I know I do. I know it's terrible, but for some morbid reason, I just find it humorous when someone else's good sense goes out the window.
It reminds me of an incident several years ago in the town where we used to live.
Josh was a high school kid and my good buddy. He was a hard worker and went on a couple of pack trips with me. He liked working with the livestock, and like I said, a heckuva good worker.
Josh worked part time after school at our local feed store. One afternoon when Josh was manning the store by himself, some bozo walked in and started helping himself to a bunch of stuff without paying for it. Josh caught him, but the guy tried to make a break for it, taking all the items with him.
Josh wasn't very big, but he was wiry and tougher than wang leather. He took the guy down and started beating the livin' powahden out of him. When Josh finally let him up, the guy was able to drag himself to his car and drive away. Josh gathered up all of the stuff and restocked the shelves.
Josh didn't call the police and neither did the crook, fortunately.
Josh didn't tell the feed store owner about it, but one day as the owner was going through the security footage, he saw the whole scenario unfold right there on camera.
He called Josh in and told him that he appreciated his loyalty to the company, but next time, just get the license plate number and call the police.
Still, I'll bet that shoplifter will think twice next time he decides to shoplift. Likewise, I think the shoplifter in the OP's story will think twice about shoplifting after being shot in the neck. From what I understand, once you've been shot once, you aren't real keen about it happening again.
Bottom line, I still kinda like to see the bad guy get some sort of "come upance," even if it's done wrong.
