It is extremely difficult for a police officer to unerringly gauge what is going on inside the mind of a disturbed individual. For “normal” people, it seems very simple: If a police officer says to drop something, you drop it. Can always discuss whether the cop was correct or not to demand that you drop it - later, when things have calmed down.
For a disturbed person, such a “simple” directive may not be easy to follow. But the cop can’t know that. The cop’s #1 job is public safety. If the armed individual is reasonably perceived as a threat, and does not comply with a directive to disarm - and then advances, deadly force may be necessary. As appears in this case.
Tough choices that come with the territory...
Something else that I hope folks will consider.
Every step backward you take as a police officer facing an armed and/or deranged individual is emboldening them, putting you in a situation where you may trip or back up against something, giving them the opportunity to rush you, OR puts an innocent in the attack radius of the offender.
At some point you have to draw the bright red line and go back no further.
As far those advocating for the LESS lethal response of a TASER, well TASER works very well WHEN it works.
When you miss with one or both barbs, or they fail to penetrate the clothing to the skin, you are in big trouble if you dealing with someone with a weapon. The vast majority of TASER cartridges are 21 foot deployment length (with optimal range between 6 and 15 feet). If you have a failure, and need to transition to a firearm these things have to happen first.
You need to mentally acknowledge the failure.
You need to override the training to reach for the second cartridge underneath. (You won’t have time)
You need to drop the TASER.
You need to drop your hand to your holster and unholster your duty weapon, overcoming all retention devices while dealing with the loss of fine motor control.
Draw your weapon and present it while trying to deal with the tunnel vision which hampers your ability to see stuff beyond the target you don’t want to hit.
You must be able to hit the target who is undoubtedly moving at a rapid pace toward you, especially since you have “attacked” them.
This is why you don’t use a TASER in a lethal force situation. There’s just not enough time and certainty.