Quote:In all honesty, in the few short videos that we've all seen, during at any point did you feel that the officers lives were in danger or were they in control of the situation? Even if he had reached in his pocket (which would require a contortionist move on his behalf and assuming he was able to do so successfully I would then say it was justified) there are witnesses who were present who say that wasn't the case at all.


They panicked. It's just that simple. Maybe they weren't trained very well from the start and we need to start pointing the fingers that way but it comes down to them panicking and reacting to the utmost extreme.

 

The video taken from practically point blank range facing the car showed they had his legs and one arm contained.  He was up under the bumper of the car, and his right shoulder and arm were absolutely not contained.  If the arm was not contained, the officers were certainly in danger with an armed perp who was already reportedly brandishing the weapon earlier.  Cops have to make split decisions.  If he was reaching into the pocket to get a hand on that gun, the sad fact is that it's probably going to be ruled a justified shooting.

 

Based on how he was under the car, there's almost no way any witness could be certain that he wasn't reaching for the gun.  Go watch that video facing the car that's taken from about 10 feet away.  It's as clear as day, and you still can't see what his arm is doing because it's underneath the car.  What we can see clear as day is his shoulder rolling frantically indicating his arm was reaching for something.  We may not be able to discern what that was, but he was clearly not complying or fully contained.

BTW, as a concealed carry permit holder who occasionally pocket carries, he wouldn't have needed to be a contortionist to get a hand on the gun and fire the weapon without ever taking it out of the pocket.

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