...I used to think the same until this happened

Yeah, I remember that. That's the ONLY time I've ever heard of these things actually being useful. Besides, if that guy knew the kid was taking pictures (which he would have realized if phone cams had been around longer) that kid probably would have been a statistic. Sounds like the kid was real lucky to begin with and it could have backfired. Smartest thing to do is just get the hell out of there as fast as you can while you can.