Another commentor pointed this out as well but I noticed he made the distinction in what happened when he shot an intimate object. There better be some other effect for animate objects.
he blasted a console and saids "so this is what happens when i shoot an inaminate object" so the effect is different if its an animate one which means 100% chance on them its just a knockout ray
since cellos power is triggered the way it is, this could be a test to see if he really can be trusted to control it
Sure but given the damage to the console then when he shot the other ppl, it should explode violently on contact with the clothes/hat leading to a severe case of death