To sum it up I was exactly correct on every point in this case. Mark stated there are many problems. First the officers were responding to a "property crime". No one had been hurt so there was no resonable expectation of violent threat. Then the officers confront the suspect from a tactically advantageous position of cover. The officer shouts to the suspect to "show me your hands" and the suspect immediately complied while holding his cell phone. The officer seeing the cell phone yells gun gun gun and almost simultaneously both officers immediately open fire and fire a total of 20 rounds. There was no pause from the officers at all to assess the threat, there was a command, suspect complies but officer thinks he sees a gun and both fire. Mark also stated the first officer yells gun gun gun but the other officer had a DUTY to verify the threat otherwise he is not authorized to fire. All officers MUST SEE and VERIFY the threat before they can use deadly force. In addition the officers had a chopper in the air over the scene.
Watch the show or catch it on youtube. Mark Furhman is a former LAPD detective and always takes a very open minded position but not in this case. He did not give these officers any chance of justifying their actions. This was clearly unjustified use of deadly force.
With respect, Mark Furhman is an entertainer and has never been an expert on deadly force. You might not like it, but your understanding of the law is just wrong. Your contention that an officer (or anyone else) has to positively identify a weapon beyond a shadow of a doubt before using deadly force is simply misguided. That has never been the standard in the United States, nor should it be. I’ve provided you with jury instructions, case examples and a use of force video. You cite to an entertainer and a convicted perjurer. I haven’t seen his interview, but if he is saying what you are suggesting, he’s just wrong. If you truly want to educate yourself on this topic, and want to read a book written for the lay person, I would suggest the excellent “Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right To Self Defense” written by Massad Ayoob. Unlike Furhman, Ayoob IS a use of force expert, and is probably one of the most qualified use of force experts in the country. The book is easy to read, and if you value the Second Amendment and the inalienable right to self preservation, I’d suggest you pick it up. If you do so, you will find that your knowledge about the use of deadly force, and what to do in the immediate aftermath of an encounter, if God forbid, you should ever have to use deadly force, is quite a bit different from what internet folklore teaches.
He clearly thought they had the upper hand and should have waited to assess the situation before firing. What is going to cook their goose is not pausing at all before firing and the fact they both fired a total of 20 rounds. This guy was given almost zero chance. I'm pretty sure anyone on this board if they were in his shoes would be just as dead. No one is going to react to "show me your hands" and immediately drop their cell phone at the same time. These guys are toast.