Why did the shooter fire at Booth?

• A. He mistook Booth for a Confederate.
• B. He fired to end Booth's life immediately.
• C. He acted on an order to stop Booth.
• D. He thought Booth would shoot at the soldiers.

Answer: (D)

The situation tested why someone would act to stop Booth rather than kill him as a target of immediate action. After Lincoln’s assassination, Booth was cornered in a barn and refused to surrender, while soldiers feared he might shoot at them or others nearby. The shooter fired because he believed Booth would shoot at the soldiers, and stopping Booth in that moment was seen as preventing further harm. The other options don’t fit the scene: there wasn’t a mistaken identity, there wasn’t an official order to shoot Booth, and the shot wasn’t about ending Booth’s life immediately—though the wound did end his life later, that wasn’t the stated reason for firing.