Very nearly shot my younger brother in a somewhat similar scenario years ago. Not a practical joke, but he came home in the wee hours of the morning at a time when he was supposed to be somewhere else. To make matters worse, he was loudly rummaging around in the house and refused to identify himself after I yelled at him to do so multiple times. Later he said he never heard me, despite me screaming at him.
I suspect he had been drinking. But if so, he sobered up pretty quickly when he flipped on a light and saw me leveling a double barreled shotgun at him from the other side of the room.
A terrible scenario. I thank God every day I didn't pull that trigger. I really feel for the father in law.
