CR_OPSO,
I understand the "apprehending hte fleeing felon" bit as part of a police officer's job description. I wasn't there, I can't make the same judgment calls under the same conditions as they did, but the use of deadly force to apprehend an individual - even a fleeing felon - should be the last choice, right?
I can't think of a situation that would put a "civilian" in similar conditions. The civilian wouldn't be allow to persue the suspect - the police have to.
How about this:
Family eating one evening in their back yard (it's a nice day). Wile E. Cokehead runs into the yard, whips out his cell-phone and starts waving it around like a pistol.
Joe Citizen draws down on Wile E. Cokehead and tells him to drop what's in his hand.
Wile E. Cokehead, seeing that things aren't going his way decides to walk away - unfortunately sort of in the direction that Joe Citizen's wife is.
Joe Citizen empties his pistol into Wile E. Cokehead's back.
Is the shooting justified? Or should Joe Citizen have found another way of handling the situation?
Haven't watched the videos so I'm not sure exactly how this situation went down, but I've seen two seperate arguments justifying the cops' shoot.
1. He had a cell that he was brandishing as if it were a gun. Cops felt threatened, so they shot.
2. He was running away and they had to shoot him to apprehend him.
Argument 1 makes perfect sense to me, but there are quite a few people here who have watched the video who claim that they didn't shoot while they were in immediate preceived danger. Then argument 2 seems to apply, except every description I've heard seemed to imply that he was walking away (not running, but walking) at the time the shots were fired, thus showing that the officers might have had a bit more time to deal with the situation using less-lethal methods where "less-lethal" describes just about anything not including a volley of handgun fire.
Perceived defense of a parter ... hmmm ... I could see that, I guess. I'll have to watch the videos.
Like I said, I'll lose no sleep over this shoot. The guy was begging to be shot when he called the cops out (so to speak) by pointing his phone at the cops like a gun.