Actually, I think the Chief was being crafty. He used the same technique that a politician might use when asked about a seamy scandal involving his opponent.
“I do not wish to comment about accusations that my opponent is a wife beating, communist pedophile, because I want to run a clean campaign.”
By putting things in this light, the Chief has almost guaranteed that every story published about this shooting will note that the decedent was an armed, violent criminal.
I suppose the icing on the cake will be by the criminal’s mother that he was “a good boy”. This will cement in everyone’s mind that he was a villain that needed shooting.
Ah, but you're forgetting the mind machine the Leftists have at their command. Facts mean nothing: if they want a story to fit The Agenda, the story will be changed.