Well, WYO just stole quite a bit of my thunder, but I'll chime in anyway.
This guy just lead the Popo on a very dangerous car chase. He then bails out of the car, refusing to obey verbal commands, and refusing to cooperate. So, now, everyone knows that they are going to have a fight on their hands. The question becomes what kind of fight.
Is it reasonable to think that he might be armed? Hale yes. Is it also reasonable to think that he might be willing to harm a police officer or an innocent bystander? Hale yes.
Now, when he pulls out a silver object in a two-hand weaver hold and starts pointing it at a police officer, one has to ask one's self "gee...I wonder what that object might be, and why he is doing that."
Actually, no, one doesn't do ask oneself that, because one doesn't have the time.
The officer at which the "gun" was pointed ducks and (probably) draws his sidearm. The officer which is in contact with Hudspeth sees this, sees the "gun" and thinks that he has a much more serious problem than one guy out on foot, trying to elude capture.
Note: if you rewind the tape and watch the stills, you can see that it is, in fact, a cell phone. However, the officers at the scene had a fraction of a second to make this determiniation, and Hudspeth was helping complete the illusion of it being a gun by holding it in a classic shooting stance. Had he put it up to his ear, or even carried it down at his side, I would be more inclined to believe some of our more excitable forum members. But he did not, and I am not.
At this point it seems that the officers, having perceived a deadly threat, get a clear backstop and fire two shots.
At this point, I must note a side point. Unless you were looking directly at the officer/suspect combo and had a clear and unobstructed view of the firearm when the gunshots were fired, you don't know who fired at whom. All you know is that shots were fired, and this takes the scenario to a whole other level. I don't think that this figured into this shooting all that much, but it could have. From the POV of a supporting officer, if the cop fired, its bad- that means he saw a deadly threat. If the suspect fired, its even worse.
In any event, Hudspeth then continues to walk away, "gun" still in hand, towards a lighted convenience store. If its lighted, that tells the officers that there is at least one innocent person inside, and their gun-armed felon is maneuvering himself towards this person. After a brief resumption of verbal commands, Hudspeth points his "gun" again at a cop, who ducks, and Hudspeth is then shot multiple times.
The key, obviously, to all of this is how readily identifiable the object in Hudspeth's hands was as a cellphone. Having been in multiple situations like this (which did not end in gunfire, thank God), I'll tell you right now that it was not identifiable, unless you have super powers. All they can see is that the suspect has something in his hand, it is silver and he is pointing it at an officer. Add in the rest of the information the officers have about this situation (his prior actions, etc), and I'll tell you straight up that I hope that I would fire, too.
Now, lets look at a few other points. The Keyboard Commandos are screeching that he was shot for daring to walk away and not obey verbal commands. OK, lets run with that assumption. If thats the case, why are the officers ducking when the cell phone is pointed at them? They allegedly know (through their magical ninja powers) that it is not a gun, so why try to avoid it? The answer is, obviously, that they do think it is a gun, and are reacting accordingly.
Also, lets consider this. You're a Jackbooted Thug TM. You have someone pulling a Contempt of Brownshirt on you...do you:
A. Shoot him- thus enduring a blizzard of paperwork, criminal hearings, civil hearings, controversy, legal bills, time on admin leave, meetings with higher-ups, meetings with the department shrink and a full Board of Review
or
B. Just thump him Old School fashion, call your supervisor, and be done with it?
See, even if we run with the assumption that the cops on the scene are goose-stepping mouth-breathers, this doesn't make sense. And, for the record, I doubt that they are thugs. They seem to have given hudspeth every opportunity to avoid being shot or even struck, and he skillfully evaded every exit presented to him.
I'll agree with WYO, its impossible to say for certain, but I'm leaning heavily towards good shoot.
Mike
