Rocketing a civilian airplane is just not in the American Military’s DNA. Military pilots & the FAA have worried for years about what—exactly—to do in such situations over populated areas. There is no good answer, other than the imperative to keep the intruder from augering into government facilities. But the US military intentionally raining flaming wreckage onto a suburban neighborhood is not a good solution either.
Sophisticated autopilots make nudging a plane off course, the way Nazi V-1 buzz bombs were redirected in WWII, impractical.
I imagine the scramble was prompted by the no radio status of the Citation & out of an abundance of caution.
Why is it, when I think back on these–likely–pressurization failures, I only remember Citation? Is there something tricky in their implementation?