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Charles L. Cotton wrote:The news report claims the police dispatcher asked the homeowner to leave his gun in the house when police arrived and he refused. If true, this information would likely have been given to the responding officer and it certainly wouldn't have helped the situation. There will may/should be audio, but I'd be surprised if the dash camera caught it, but hopefully I'm wrong.

This is a tragedy for everyone involved.

(BTW, see below.)

Chas.

TPC §9.31(b)(2) wrote:(b) The use of force against another is not justified:

• (2) to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction, even though the arrest or search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under Subsection (c);
  
  . . .
  
  (c) The use of force to resist an arrest or search is justified:
  • (1) if, before the actor offers any resistance, the peace officer (or person acting at his direction) uses or attempts to use greater force than necessary to make the arrest or search; and
    
    (2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the peace officer's (or other person's) use or attempted use of greater force than necessary.

baldeagle wrote:I have two thoughts about this story. First, assuming the man was rational, why would he have pointed his gun at the officer? He apparently didn't want to shoot him, because he had the drop on him but didn't fire. That only leaves me with one conclusion. If he was rational, then he had decided he wanted to die. What other explanation could there have been?

Second, if you were talking to a neighbor and he pointed his gun at you, what would you do? Once the gun is pointed at you, your choices are limited. If, in your judgment, the neighbor isn't serious about pulling the trigger, you could try to talk him down, but there is a high risk in that scenario. If you're wrong, you're dead. If you're not certain what the neighbor's intentions are, then you have to either escape or shoot. Police officers can't run away. They're paid to confront difficult situations.

While the officer may have been wrong to try to take the gun away from him (I have no idea if he did or not and, if he did, if he was wrong or not), once the gun was pointed at him, he was forced to make a quick decision that determined whether he lived or died. Under the same circumstances, I would shoot. Wouldn't you?

For me the lesson of this incident is, if you are confronted by a police officer who you are convinced has no legal right to do what he's doing to you you either need to shoot without hesitation or surrender and wait for your day in court. The latter has a much higher likelihood of ensuring your survival.