“An officer cannot just fire his/her weapon when they like. They would have to fill out a lengthy report. The officer was in a no win situation.”
I agree with this. What about the bullet fragments, or worse, a ricochet? This was a very tough, snap call under extreme duress. I came very close to having to make a decision like this with my own pet. I wasn’t there, so I would have to leave this to the best judgement of people on the scene.