I can't suppress this same scenario.
I just don't want to kill anyone unless I'm out of options, and it just seems a warning shot - into the ground - is an option.
"Deadly force is that amount of force which I know, or should know, will cause serious bodily harm or death, to be used as a last resort when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed."
That's the definition of deadly force I learned in the Navy at my first command, way back in the late 80s, and by and large that's pretty much what the definition of deadly force is within civil statutes, though it may be worded differently.
Deadly force is not to be wielded lightly, and our jurisdictional statutes make that quite clear by its definition and circumscribed limitations in it's use.
That one does not wish to kill another person is laudable, but the presentation and use of deadly force is a tacit acknowledgement of an imminent existential threat to oneself. If the threat ceases when when one presents the weapon, great. But one has STILL presented deadly force in the eyes of the law. Same as for firing the weapon, whether one actually hits the attacker or not, deliberately or otherwise.
"You pays your money and you takes your chances." Ultimately, what you do is YOUR responsibility. Just don't deceive yourself into believing that the laws look lightly on "warning shots" as some kind of "get out of jail free card" with respect to deadly force.