Look, he put the baby on the front porch as directed. I'd have no prob with shooting him in the legs. The marksmanship, at least, was not directed toward "protecting the community" if the man had, at that point, done something appropriate to protect his child,and had his back to the cop.
As I observed above, maybe that was when there were fewer people taking mind-altering drugs all the time.
I hesitate to form a more specific opinion on the events based on the information we have. The article doesn't suggest that either the author or his stepinlaw were witnesses.