I disliked the vague and unspecified accusation. “he had some additional prior violent criminal history” If you can’t say what, or don’t know, then you shouldn’t claim it.
It made me want to shoot the author in the back as he was fleeing, defenseless. (/sarc)
Let’s see, his rap sheet is quite extensive, actually — my articles are posted on the site as opinion columns, with word limits...I think you get my drift....
In the second place, it really doesn't matter if he's Jeffery Dahmer. If all the policemen knows at the time of the altercation is that he's fleeing from a traffic stop, the cop has no reason to fire at a fleeing suspect 35 feet away.
Now the OP has asked me for a citation. OK. He got one. But the burden of proof was on him, not me. Given Scott's history, it's pretty likely he's been rousted several times as a result of an Ex making inflammatory [and probably exaggerated, even untrue] accusations. Was he a loser? Probably. That is not a capital crime. Neither is "resisting."
Police supporters need to learn to pick their battles, or lose all credibility. There is no hill to stand on in this case, not even a falsified history of the murder victim.