[zeugma]

I'm not saying at all that this was a good shoot, but let's clear up something: a person doesn't have to be visibly "armed" to pose a threat to other people, even police. A displayed assaultive intent ratchets up the justification to defend with deadly force dramatically. After all, Trayvon Martin was "unarmed" when he attacked Zimmerman, but was rightfully shot anyway.

Hard to picture a person sitting down playing with a truck as a threat to anyone. This cop needs to move to a different profession. We know he won't see any prison time because he's a cop and just shot a citizen, but the least that needs to happen is he needs to lose his job.

[fwdude]

AGain, in case you missed it, I SAID that I wasn’t addressing this particular issue. A person sitting CAN present a threat, just as a person lying on the ground can still be a threat. Rodney King presented a threat as long as he resisted and refused to comply with lawful policy orders, whether on the ground or not.

The shoot in question certainly sounds like a gross error by this cop. But “unarmed” doesn’t mean anything, generally.