From the comic, we see that the man, after saying he got what was coming to him, says that he was trying to steal from him, and he pulls out his gun to show that he attempted to steal his gun. He then shoots, making me think he's just some crazy guy who wants to shoot the next kid who comes to him.
These comments are based on the assumption that the man is telling the truth of "He tried to steal this from me."
It's possible the man only said "He tried to steal this..." because he was pulling out the weapon to shoot Ekko. No, I won't blame the guy for trying to defend himself. Some kid came out of nowhere possibly trying to mug him.
HOWEVER, this guy just shot a kid and was WHISTLING! I don't care about the circumstances that Piltie found himself in. He was whistling Dixie after shooting someone and leaving them for dead. If you consider Ajuna or Ekko the bad guy in that situation, then you obviously don't get the concept of what it's like living in the gutter.
From what i've seen and read zaun is extremely loose on rules and laws. Personally I wouldn't take any chances if i was cornered in an alley by some angry kid wielding a glowing weapon of some sort.
Well, considering that Zaun is a really dangerous place, were you can be randomly selected as guinea pig for experiments, killed by robots, attacked by giant rats and mutants, eaten by a random dragon, punched by cyborgs, exploded by random bombs, even the air can kill you, etc... i don't blame the guy for carrying a loaded gun with him.
But... killing a 12 years boy because he tried to steal something? geez that is extreme... but then again, there are almost 0 laws at Zauns... so, if you are not going to defend your self... no one else will.
Also worth mentioning Ajuna didnt know a single feature of that man.
Literally the only info he had to give Ekko was that he whistles. Ajuna had no idea what he actually looked like.
This suggests Ajuna was the one that got attacked.
I know this thread is 4 months old and all, but I gotta say, I think Ajuna probably didn't try to mug the guy, but rather tried to pick-pocket him. Considering his small size, and... Well... His age, he doesn't pose much of a threat to a full grown man. It could explain why he didn't get a good look at the guy because he snuck up on him from behind.
Ajuna wanted to get some food for his friend. To get food you need money or the actual food, when he sought out in that man, unfortunately the guy was prepared if someone tried to mug him.
