The idea that the father was apparently shot while answering the door/very near the door is a bit perplexing, imo. If a perp was planning a home invasion, it seems odd they would knock on the door – past midnight, apparently – as doing so in a rural area in a gun-friendly state might likely see a resident answer the door while carrying a firearm. Perp doesn’t want that, no sir. So, under the planned home-invasion scenario, a knock at the door seems unlikely.
Still, the father, it would appear, answered or was near the door when he was shot, after -- as reports have seemed to indicate -- the door was either kicked in or shot in. So, why was the father where he was? It’s possible he heard something outside the door (not much stealth involved by the perp, if that was the case) and went to have a look. Maybe the dog barked. I’m dubious about that scenario – just seems a stretch that the kicking in/shooting in of the door would happen right when the dad was approaching.
Seems to me, the most logical (not that logic apply in this case, of course) scenario is that the perp did knock at the door (because he was someone the family knew) and that the father at least went to the door, whether he opened it or not. I can envision the father either looking out a window to see who it was, or simply asking, “Who is it?” And, upon seeing/learning who it was – someone the father didn’t want to speak with in the least – I could envision the dad saying something like, “Get the hell outta here before I call the cops.” Almost immediately afterward, the door is kicked/shot in, w/ the dad right there.
Bottom line: odds are more likely than not that the perp was known to the father.