Yes I do feel, not sympathy really, but a sense of loss over a handsome young man that just threw his life away. One horrific decision before he's even 20 and his life is over, and that is if he lives through his injuries. (which he will. America loves to patch up its criminals just so they can execute them later)
For me, this sense of loss comes from having a son that is almost the same age. Struggling to become a man without a father. Wanting to be grown up but not quite there yet. I can totally see how a kid could get caught up in something and never acknowledge, perhaps never even recognize the possibility of, the consequences that would result from his actions. Or they might not believe you when you tell them what could happen. Son of mine has been googling behind me when I tell him "this is the penalty for X, this is what is going to happen if you are stupid and Y". He's found out mom does have a brain after all. (how about that!!) But I know, from being around him and his posse of friends, just how easy it is for one kid to egg on another until they are both doing something stupid. And Mom and Dad can't stand between them and their immaturity forever.