R S wrote:
This cop fucked up. Plain and simple. It appears from the witnesses that he knew he fucked up immediately after he pulled the trigger. Sad for all those involved. I don't know the whole case. But apparently there was a gun in the car and the car was suspected in a drive by. Anyone know if in fact it was the right car? Still the wrong move by the cop, but if the kid was in the car that just did a drive by, It's a bit different than him getting gunned down buying crackerjacks at the corner store.
It was the correct car. They pulled the car over because it not only matched the make and model of the one described in the drive by, but it also had bullet holes in it.
So they knew it was the correct car and also knew the people in it were likely to be armed and willing to use those guns.
Does that information equate to a credible enough threat to open fire on someone running in the opposite direction? That's the million dollar question, here. And I believe that to be a question that no one who has never done that type of job before is even remotely qualified to answer.
My gut says he should have just let the kid go and not fired on him. But as I mentioned before, I have multiple friends in this line of work (including one friend on the SWAT team), and know enough from talking to them over the years that these things are never, ever as cut and dry as they seem. There's also a deeper strategy, always parameters I would never have thought of, etc.
I think folks sitting at their computers who have never been put in a life threatening situation should understand that they don't have even a fraction of the information necessary to make an informed opinion on such a topic.
(On related note, if you DO want to maybe learn a little more about what happens in these situations and get a more informed opinion on them, I highly highly highly highly recommend two books written by Dave Grossman. The first is called "On Killing", and the second is called "On Combat". They're both geared towards military and law enforcement and are meant as a deep-dive into exactly what happens in a life threatening situation. That includes both the psychology and the often-overlooked physiological effects of killing someone else and being in a situation where you could be killed. It's absolutely fascinating and these books have become great training sources for both military and law enforcement. If I had my way, they'd also be required reading for anyone who buys a gun.
To repeat, I'll never ever claim to know what a cop or soldier goes through in a gunfight....but these books have at least given me a peek behind the curtains a bit and I'm extremely glad that I've read them.)