the officer who was packing heat--the officer
wasn't thinking clearly. In this his first
use of his "weapon", it sounds like he was
quite flustered. Whether or not his testimony
about Brown trying to seize his gun in the
vehicle is credible--there are no witnesses
for that part of the narrative--even giving
him the benefit of the doubt .... But I
suspect that once you start shooting, the
urge to continue shooting until your target
falls takes over. It's as though he were a
hunter and shooting game. It's as though his
gun were making the decisions for him
instead of his brain. That's not in the
least to excuse his conduct, far from it, but
an argument against cops on the beat having
lethal weapons. Especially young cops.
Perhaps a stun gun would be sufficient to
do his rounds? Even that seems excessive.
