Well, I live in the general area where this happened, and the local news media is going ape over this story, and understandably so, it's a pretty big story. However, I work at a 911 center in town (not the same one that got this call, neighboring county) and I can tell you that this is gonna be a tough one. Granted, the cops followed SOP. I don't believe all the officers in Tigard and Washington County carry the air tasers, so that wasn't a viable option. Bean bag rounds had the wrong effect in this case. Instead of BG collapsing into a heap after being hit, he's in a drunk enough haze that while they hurt, probably didn't hurt enough to drop him. Drunken logic says "Ow, outside hurts. Go inside." He probably grabbed his baggy pants to keep from tripping over them. Had he tripped over them that may have saved his life.
I can't fault the cops on this one though. You have a unknown, drunk, belligerent, ARMED subject who after ignoring your commands decided to head back into an occupied residence. Your first concern as an officer HAS to be for the safety of those inside said residence, not knowing if this kid is gonna harm those inside. Granted, firing with the house as a "backstop" was really dumb. But this kid sealed his fate by choosing to be drunk, choosing to be belligerent, and choosing to arm himself and threaten suicide. Those are the choices he made. And now, unfortunately, his family and those officers need to live with the results of the decisions that HE made...