“Deputy Erick Gelhaus, 48, fired multiple rounds in response to what he believed was an imminent threat of death, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced at a news conference.”
This is NOT the standard by which a private citizen would be judged. It’s not enough that you believe there is an imminent threat, it must be a REASONABLE belief. In other words, a hypothetical “reasonable person” would also believe they were in danger in a similar situation.
Obviously that’s not the case here. A reasonable person would know that open carry is legal, and a reasonable person would also know that someone simply carrying a firearm is not necessarily threatening anyone. Otherwise we could shoot police officers on sight with no repercussions, if simply carrying their firearms constituted a threat.
No, but it is getting to the point where a firearm combined with a badge constitutes much more of a threat than a firearm alone.