"It wouldn't be too hard to believe said stranger didn't start it."
That might be, but if I were a seventeen year old in someone else's home at 2:30 a.m. and they can in with a gun I wouldn't give them any reason to shoot me. My hands would be behind my head and I'd be on the floor. Let them call the cops or whatever I'd rather be alive and in trouble then give a father a reason, however bad it might be, to kill me.
Walt you got it right and be one smart fellow.
Plus how well did the kid know the dad? He may have "known" the daughter but may have never met the dad before.
Plus, ??
I don't know how you guys feel but in my house with my kids, I am going to be in a shoot first ask questions later mentality with any intruder.