Deadly force is not the standard.
It is deadly force or threat of serious bodily harm.
A violent shove to the ground can certainly cause serious bodily harm: Broken hips or femurs can cause strokes or severed femoral arteries, compressed spine can cause lifelong pain or paralysis. As Manuel OKelley said striking the head on the ground can cause a concussion and intracranial bleeding that can be a quick death or irreversible brain damage.
The shooter may be an A-hole but I see this as a justified self defense shooting.
“A shove to the ground is not deadly force, “
Meaning to say that _being shoved to the ground_ does not justify deadly force after the fact. Not saying that it cannot kill. However, the fact remains, that even though the shove could have made him hit his head, THAT shove didn’t. You cannot shoot as he backs up because his shove COULD have done that.
If he moved towards him again, he could probably shoot.
He screwed up. Now he will be charged.