“I was in fear for my life and felt I had no other choice, officer.”
“IT’S COMIN’ STRAIGHT FOR US!”
I wouldnt bother calling any “officer”. They only make a bad situation worse.
"I was in fear of my families lives, and my own...."
Learn to couple the word “reasonable” with “fear.” It has an important legal meaning.
“I had a reasonable fear for my life and the lives and bodily safety of my family, officer.”
The word means that someone else, put in your situation, with the information and circumstances you had AT THAT MOMENT, would have reached the same conclusion you did AT THAT MOMENT, ie that your life was in danger.
This is as opposed to “stark fear,” which is an unconsidered evaluation and automatic reaction.
Remember that. Lawyers from whom I’ve taken self-defense courses pounded this point into the class’ heads. Here is yet another case of this legal notion, that jurors (and other people) placed into your shoes, with the facts you had AT THAT MOMENT, would have concluded that their lives were in danger:
http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2009/07/harold_fish_con.php