[Yashcheritsiy]

I have to admit, I have a pretty good imagination, yet I cannot conceive of any situation where it would be necessary to shoot a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair who is waving a pen at me. Keep in mind, this man could not even move at the same time he is waving the pen around. He can either roll (and not well) or he can wave the pen. Not both at the same time. I'm not a cop, and I don't have all their fancy training or stellar situation defusing skills, but I think that I could nevertheless figure out how to disarm a bipalegic man waving a pen around without shooting him.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

You are assuming that the police officer was in possession of the all the facts. He was behind the assailant who was waiving “something” in a threatening manner at his partner. He made an unfortunate decision, yes, but why do so many Freepers automatically take the anti-cop position in these incidents. I know that neither you nor I are in possession of the facts, and you probably never had to make a split second decision that may have meant life or death.

Like the cops say, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.