Gunslinger,
I have had several bad encounters with LE in my youth. I've been threatened and detained on enough false statements to have an inherent distrust in LE. In fact I attended
protests against the Mesa police back when they were in killing spree mode. I think the protest was in 04. I question if that had anything to do with my DELAY on my first firearm purchase. The murder of
Tasia Patton opened my eyes. I knew any citizen would at least be held accountable for manslaughter in a similar situation and I've always felt that those sworn to uphold the law should be held to a
higher standard.
My point in all this is I am not an LE lover.
I do believe this officer is innocent until proven guilty. His statements, if true, show a justifiable kill. If there was a struggle for his weapon the man was armed. Retention training is a whole 'nother story.
By the way, I am happy to see that cops actually do get
charged with murder these days.
soapbox/
Please remember, if/when you call police they are not there to mediate. They are there to arrest and trained to shoot at the first sign of danger. That includes
hitting a police motorcycle in front of your vehicle even if the officer is behind you.
/soapbox
BTW, reading these articles again made my stomach churn. I think the police here have gotten much better but in the late 90's to early 2000's I hated and feared them. I'd personally been in more encounters with them than I care to admit and had their trigger-happy hands holding guns to my temple. When they weren't holding weapons to me they were concocting stories to search me and friends. I never once let them search me, I knew my rights then and I know them now.
Now the police call me sir and thank me.:lol: How the world changes.