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Jumping Frog wrote:He was way too slow to shoot, and he should have kept shooting until the threat was stopped.

One white male, who was threatened by Hampton, had a handgun in his possession. He confronted Hampton in an effort to protect himself and others. Hampton continued to use the knife and continued to threaten the victim and others. Hampton eventually cut the victim with the knife at which point the victim shot Hampton. After being shot, Hampton continued to verbally threaten and attack him. The victim shot Hampton again.

Why wait until after you are cut to shoot?

If I am feeling generous and have some distance, the guy gets one chance at "Drop the knife" before bang, bang, bang . . .

In the situation as described ("Officers learned that Lewis Hampton, a white male age 41, had threatened several people with a large knife."), I am not feeling generous. Self defense isn't done with "play fair" rules, and I do not have the same duty to warn someone like an LEO. See the credible threat with deadly force and go straight to bang, bang, bang. No warnings. Shoot him down like a rabid dog.

At close range, I am way more afraid of a large knife than I am of a handgun.

A knife doesn’t even have to be large. If the person knows how to use it, an extremely sharp three inch blade will kill you just as dead as a .45 in the chest.

When I was with the S.O. I handled a call where a guy was cut across the back and didn’t even know it until someone told him he was bleeding. He had been cut with a straight razor and said he had just felt a slight sting.

If the guy was brandishing a knife I would never have been cut. By the way, in a lot of cases an LEO does not have a duty to warn. Most will do it if they feel they have time, but an officer does not have to put his life in jeopardy to warn someone.

Something that really makes me steam is that some people have gotten the idea from television that an LEO cannot fire until fired upon, or an LEO cannot fire until the BG points a firearm at him/her. In real life the BG does not get a "free shot" and the perp only has to move a firearm in a menacing manner to get shot.