It does not matter a lick what those on officer.com have to say - that is a biased and self-serving voice - not at all viable in a specific situation like this.
I'm as far from a cop-hater as one can be - very supportive of LE in general. But, it is astounding how some will throw away all reason and common sense in knee-jerk defense of even the most egeregious bad actions by police is such situations.
The cop supposedly is WELL TRAINED and fully competent to deal with a wide variety of situations, even like this one. Folks like those on officer.com will take a position like "he is a highly trained proferssional" and, apparently, a statement like that is supposed to trump facts and reason. Such reasoning is stupid.
The cop is in a position of vastly superior power, is armed with at least one deadly weapon, and often can conjure an excuse for using deadly force. Those very facts lay upon him a vastly more serious responsibility to use great judgment, act safely and sensibly, and choose to use that deadly force very judiciously.
The issue for me is not what has, or will, happen with that LEO. The issue is that some seem to exert blind loyalty to a "brother" in the face of simple reason. Being simply a non-LEO citizen does not remove a person's ability to perceive reality and react accordingly. Likewise, being a LEO does not excuse a person who cannot do the same.
