I can tell you that you will never know how you'll react until you are placed in that situation.
On August 29, 2002 I was working at a Ben Franklin Crafts Store when shortly before closing a masked man holding a gun came into the store demanding money from the register I was working at. I was in such a state of shock, quite honestly because we thought it was a joke at first..who robs a craft store??, that I shut my register drawer and wouldn't open it again.
Now, a little back story - I had just graduated from college with my BA in criminal justice, had spent 3 years working with a juvenile diversion program rehabilitating offenders, and apparently thought I could talk this young kid down from this huge mistake he was making.
He got fed up with my non-compliance and whacked me on the top of the head with the butt of the gun, splitting my head open and then fled the store. I required staples to the wound and he was never found. I, however, have had to live with that two minute episode (that seemed like an eternity) and replay it in my head and deal with the traumatic aftershocks.
So - was what I did right or wrong? Not sure....fortunately it worked out okay for me, minus the staples. But I quite potentially put the lives of everyone else in that store at risk due to my thoughtless decision making. But in a panic, fight or flight situation such as that, your brain is going in a million different directions.
Last November - just before Thanksgiving a young man in Iowa walked into two different convenience stores and demanded money at both places. After both female clerks followed his command and emptied the registers, he shot them both point blank in the face. Murdering them both just days before thanksgiving. These were two women with children, grandchildren, and families.
I suppose people are just plain crazy and you just never know how they'll react. You can only do what you think is right.
