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Keith B wrote:

rbwhatever1 wrote:Disturbing video. A "what if" doesn't justify wielding Deadly Force here. Good thing the fired LEO was a bad shot.

I wouldn't say he was that bad a shot; he hit the guy. The mortality rate from handguns is only 15% - 20%, so the chances of survival are high.

Four shots, (at least one fired when the victim clearly had his hands up) one (apparently pretty ineffective) hit, close range, no return fire, occupied gas station and busy street in the background. I'm curious where the other three bullets ended up.

(And looking at where the street, other cars at the pumps, and the windows of the gas station are, staying by his own driver side fender would have given him a much better backstop in the form of the victim's vehicle and the solid wall of the station, as well as giving him the partial cover of his engine block to duck behind.)

gljjt wrote:This guy may be one as well. Even so, I think he made a poor call.

One could say Jim Jones was a nice guy who just happened to make a poor call with the Fla-Vor-Aid.

How bad does someone have to screw up before it negates whatever else they've done?

Frankly, I don't care if he was Mother Teresa's personal attendant and bodyguard; when he shot an innocent man over such a tenuous perception of a threat, he left the realm of even possibly being a good cop.

baldeagle wrote:Although the guy's movements would arouse suspicion, it seems to me he should have moved to cover and waited to see if something was in the guy's hand before firing.

Suspicion, yes, but only to the point of a clear order to step away from the car, and maybe drawing to low ready at most. The victim wasn't acting hostile in the least. Startled, if anything.

Convenient that he was making a seat belt violation in a situation where he knew the guy would be getting out of the car right away. Sounds more like he'd planned a stop-and-harass on a thin pretense.