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"I cannot say that in that split second I can make out the difference between real and sumpin that’ll just put my eye out, which seems like on the one hand it’d sting for a while and on the other I’d come to yearn for it."

That's a good and true point. I'm guessing that you wouldn't fire without someone showing some intent to point anything that appears to be a weapon at you. Have a look at the quote in my comment #41.

I don't do any dangerous duty now and haven't done so for a long time. Here are a couple of tenuously related exercises that might be interesting.

Have a friend or relative clap his hands in front of him. Try to put your hand in between his hands, before his hands clap together. Try it a few times while watching only his hands.

Then try it a few times while watching his eyes instead. If it doesn't work, keep trying. You'll notice that you can still see his hands with peripheral vision. If you do the exercise enough, you'll see the indication in advance, that he's going to move. You'll see it in his face, his eyes or at the worst, a slight dip in one of his shoulders.

The same exercise can be done in many other ways. Good fighters rely on it. Looking beside an object instead of straight at it, by the way, sometimes better helps us to see an object in the dark (old infantry training). And remember that many tend to fire low while firing close and fast with sights in the dark. [Practice point firing at close range in the dark.]

Another one. Sometimes, try to see what another person is going to do next, while they're facing away from you. Only when other people are in front of that person, though. See it in the eyes or other actions of the bystanders in front of the person with his back to you.

Those exercises could be useful in rare circumstances.

Even though equipment and other tactics may be improved, being a good judge of character is very important. No one is perfectly safe.

And yeah, I like to live this way. There's no violence, no consequent sadness and no duty to be confronted with it.

Tbose are good excercises and we used to play it with my Dad, growing up.

Seriously though.

Someone putting their hands on what would look like a cordless, long distance, hole punch doesn’t give one much time for assessment, even if it were real.

You know the addage about footage of feet and safety zone.

I’d like to think I could draw, acquire target and properly place a round or rounds to put the danger down but, that 12-20 foot zone is pretty deadly and a man has great ability to close that distance and put a nasty paper cut on his opponent.

Not saying that’s the conditions here and neither are you in your example.

It’s a crap situation and particularly with a kid involved.

However, just based on what I read it seems like the officer was dealt what could have been a pretty serious hand and unfortunately the kid made a very poor choice in his actions.

I don’t think one is trigger happy when guns are in play.

It’s a deadly serious game for everyone and usually there is only one winner.

Story has some similarities with a story 2 years ago in Sonoma, CA.

Kid was playing with an AK toy he had altered to make it look real enough.

Same sad deal.

Kid was ordered to put it down and he swung around.

Cop shot him dead

Seriously a sad a fk’d up situation but, what were the choices...if it were real?