A warrant for child support doesn’t constitute a reason to even run the man down in my book. Go arrest him at his home. Seriously, what was the threat to public safety that required him to be taken immediately? I bet they had not yet even attempted to find him.
If a someone gets pulled over for speeding and then takes off running after handing over their license, what justification is there for shooting them?
You are viewing the situation from a logical standpoint. It was not logical for the man to run, knowing he would be found later on. It was logical for the policeman to instantly think that the man would be found later on if he didn’t want to chase him down. Based on the video, it looks like murder.
Let justice take its course.
Imagine that you are in the jury pool. You'll hear from the defense that:
(1) This was an ordinary traffic stop that every man jack of us has experienced. Brake light out? OK. Happens.
(2) Driver has NO PAPERWORK for auto. "Just bought it, yadda yadda"
(3)Cop says get back in car and stay there. Returns to his patrol vehicle. All the cop knows is that this is not a "street legal" auto. Ordinarily, that's really not that big a deal. You park the car. Get a ticket. Call for a ride. Straighten it out. Pay the fine and go sin no more against the DMV.
(4) Escalation Point: Driver bolts from vehicle and takes off running.
Face it. At this point the officer, who may or may not, be the worst SOB since Hitler, has no idea whatsoever who this running away guy is, if it's his car, or if he's a car thief, felon, has a warrant on him, is an escaping mass murderer, jihadist, etc. That is the "Threat to Public Safety" of which you speak and the reason for taking him immediately.
This could be an extreme case of "Resisting Arrest." Advice to anyone out there who might be my son:
By all means hang this trigger happy SOB Cop at high noon on Martin Luther King Boulevard. After the trial.
BTW, between now and this fiend's trial, how many African-American citizens will be shot down on the streets of Chicago?
That actually happened to the brother in law of a friend of mine. They didn't shoot him. The guy was a real paranoid, fear the cops and black helicopters kind of guy. Police stopped him and he ran away (no warrants or anything). The family thought it was rather funny since the police were right there with his car, with his license tag on it. They know who he is when they have that info. Some people have an inordinate fear of police. I think now, wow, they could have shot him in the back for running away. Weird.