Armed robberies in the news

In the last few weeks there has been alot of coverage of armed robberies in the local news. Whether it's more coverage or more robberies, it warrants a closer look.
Of course there is always the possibility that by cooperating you will get away just loosing property, which is a victory in self defense. The problem comes in the odds. There is also a chance that you will NOT escape injury or death even if you cooperate, it's a roll of the dice. How do you know when to cooperate and when not to? The armed robbery shown in THIS report gives us some clues.
The first thing you should notice is that when the perpetrators enter the ABC Mart, one walks straight to the counter and the other stops dead in his tracks at the door. No one walks in a store with a buddy and stops just inside the door, this should send up a big red flag wrapped in flashing warning lights. According to the clerk, the perp at the counter "lifted his shirt" to show a pistol in his waistband. I'm not offering advice, but it's likely that this guy didn't want to shoot anybody at that moment or he would have had the gun out (if it were even real). Even if he didn't really want to shoot anyone, pointing a gun at someone shows indifference for life and things should change for you right then and there.
Something else indicated by the clerk was how nervous these guys were. This could be a good sign or a bad sign, largely depending on where the gun is pointing! In this case, I think it showed that they just wanted the money and to get out as quick as possible. The clerk chose well as indicated by the fact that he's alive and well, but in my opinion this one was a simple choice.
The truth is there will be dozens or even hundreds of clues leading you to what you think you should do, and still just the opposite could happen. You can make educated guesses but people are unpredictable. Trust your instincts and if needed, trust your training.