No way for the cop to know if it wasn’t just a lazy fat guy who didn’t really need the scooter or was using it as cover to steal. Granted, 9 shots in the back does seem rather severe.
Certainly, but if he disables the scooter and stays out of the Tueller Radius - well, the officer will find out which it is and will have at least delayed the perp and retained a standoff distance.
Not saying that he absolutely *should* have shot at the scooter, just pointing out that there was an alternative target that might have been just as effective and far more hilarious. :P
“No way for the cop to know if it wasn’t just a lazy fat guy who didn’t really need the scooter or was using it as cover to steal. Granted, 9 shots in the back does seem rather severe.”
Yep, I was thinking the same. We tend to default to what the media wants us to think. In this case, a poor man who cannot walk well. Well, maybe...maybe not.