That’s what I think. it doesn’t say the wounded policeman was shot. It would be easy to get hurt in a stressful situation.
The fact that they didn’t shoot him in a vital area may have been because the cops realized his intention and didn’t want to kill a guy bent on suicide by cop.
Or else they were bad shots.
You're saying they winged him out of pity, like in a Western, and as recommended by Joe Biden.
The idea that the cops just didn't want to help him suicide by cop puts me in mind of the joke about interaction between the sadist and the masochist.
The masochist yells, "Beat me, hurt me!"
On reflection, the Masochist says, "No."
I'm going for "They missed."