If the bullet had ricocheted and hit a student, would the cop’s decision to fire have also been “fine”?
What if the bullet ricocheted and killed the student?
What if, what if, what if?
It DIDN’T.
That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a RESONABLE chance of hitting a student. There also might not have been a reasonable chance of hitting a student. We don’t know, but the fact that a student WASN’T hit argues in the officers favor (as far as gun handling).
Saying that a weapon can’t be discharged because people are “around” isn’t going to work. I’ve spent thousands of hours on the firing line and in actual live-fires with soldiers, cops and civilians around me. Nobody was injured by direct fire or a richchet, ever. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen under different circumstances, but it didn’t because of training, organization and skill.
If the students weren’t in the line of fire, if the officer was sure of the backstop or impact material, then the shooting might have been “safe” (though not necessarily justified). I would say that the risk to the students (what percentage?) would have to be weighed against the urgency of the shooting. Sort of an Expected Value (EV) kind of thing. The dog wasn’t a madman with a knife, but it was “chasing” students. So, the lower urgency of the “chasing” dog should be weighed against the actual risk to the students.
It didn't.