[meatloaf]

I agree that he overreacted. The question is why he reacted as he did. For that the answer can be found in the book, The Power of Habit, which was published around the time of the incident. Once you understand how the brain stores habits, it’s likely that the retired policeman’s training resulted in a response without conscious thought. Some articles said his first words after the shooting were, “What have I done?” I suspect he was surprised as the guy shot dead.

Athletes do something similar by repetitive training to react to circumstance without the involvement of conscious thought.

[Bob434]

[[I agree that he overreacted. The question is why he reacted as he did.]]

And that in a nutshell is the bottom line

you bring up a good point about him reacting the way he did immediately after the shooting=-

It’s also a possibility that the other fella did escalate the issue to the point where the cop reacted like he did automatically- but as you state- it remains to be seen when the facts are presented-

[kiryandil]

I agree that he overreacted. The question is why he reacted as he did. For that the answer can be found in the book, The Power of Habit, which was published around the time of the incident. Once you understand how the brain stores habits, it’s likely that the retired policeman’s training resulted in a response without conscious thought. Some articles said his first words after the shooting were, “What have I done?” I suspect he was surprised as the guy shot dead.

This actually brings up a very good question, and one I've not seen in discussions of this incident.

Perhaps people with this sort of training should be assessed to see if they should be carrying around weapons of the trade when they retire.

This one is a very good example of one that should not have been.

[Big Red Badger]

“The Power of Habit”

I need more Practice!