It can be. Even a toy gun can get you killed. I am not defending cops, but they, or anyone else can’t always wait to see if a gun is real unless they want to see what comes out of it. It is too late at that point. Stick a toy gun in your belt or a BB gun that looks like a real firearm, cause a disturbance that brings police attention to you, and when they get there, pull your shirt back and start pulling it out. You will see what they are justified doing...Here in Texas, we have what is known as the “night time law” which allows deadly force to be used to stop theft at night, and my understanding of the law is that it was worded to allow people to act when a weapon couldn’t be seen at all.
I have less problem with an officer having to shoot an unarmed person attacking him or a person pulling a fake gun or a BB gun than I do with those that shoot peoples dogs for barking at them. And, of course every circumstance is different. One of the reasons I wouldn’t want to be a cop. Someone reaches for what you believe is a weapon, and you wait to see for sure, it can cost you your life. And if you don’t wait, it can still cost you....IMO
Yeah, you are. We hire police officers to protect us. We arm them, train them, give them great authority and expect them to uphold the law. With that power comes responsibility, the understanding that the job has its risks, and the expectation that using deadly force is the last resort and not the first one. Nobody, not a single witness, has suggested that the officer's life or the life of anyone else was in imminent danger. But the officer still saw the need to shoot a 12 year old boy.