I think pictures of the cops face are now front and center in this incident.
If his face is bruised and cut significantly, or indeed at all, it will show what the officers state of mind, therefore his intent was as he was pulling the trigger.
I don’t mind saying that if some 6’ 6” 290 lb man was pounding on me and I had a gun he would be a dead big guy AND with multiple holes in his bod!
On the other hand, IF Brown did indeed fall to his knees with his hands up in the air, and then the cop started shooting, the cop is justifiably in big trouble no matter what.
Bottom line: We still don’t know all the facts.
My take is that if the coroner’s report shows GSW on the Dead cigar bandit it supports the reported officers account of the fight over the gun and discharge in the cruiser, he crossed the line and lethal force was necessary/justified. Bull rushing the cop after that was just saying ‘I wants to win the Darwin award of the week’.