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Thanks for posting this witness statement.

It does seem that Michael Brown was running out of steam. He was, up to his turning around, bleeding badly from his right thumb wound (this type of wound is notorious for high blood loss - some people will pass out within a few seconds after such a wound). He was also partially (at least) under some drug influence. His run away from the police SUV has been described as anything but running - rather, he was not well-coordinated at it nor moving rapidly.

Since leaving the immedate locale of the police SUV, Police Officer Darren Wilson had been trying to do his duty: Stop and apprehend Michael Brown. Police Officer Darren Wilson had yelled at least twice, for Michael Brown to Stop and Get Down!

After the first 2 shots fired in the vicinity of the SUV, and up to the last 4 shots fired by Police Officer Darren Wilson, among all the other shots fired, the shots that struck Michael Brown were winging Michael Brown. Whether Darren Wilson is such a good shot or not, these shots make an argument for Darren Wilson trying to get Michael Brown to just plain stop.

Among the witness statements, are observations that Michael Brown extended his arms out to his sides, probably just after a shot by Police Officer Darren Wilson, that grazed Michael Brown’s (inside) right arm just above the elbow. It’s a particularly sensitive area that often gets a person’s attention, and it probably got Michael Brown’s attention, finally, causing Michael Brown to initiate his turn about with arms out and saying “Okay. Okay” (at least twice).

Michael Brown apparently attempted to use his un-wounded hand - to support himself at a point in this turn, and that hand may have momentarily touched the ground.

As he came around in his turn, Michael Brown was unable to maintain his footing while he raised his hands the 1 to 2 seconds (the witness you cite), during which time his palms were toward Police Officer Darren Wilson.

But *that* did not last.

Michael Brown, losing power and self-control and probably some concious-ness, also lost control over his countenance -— which happens to people on the verge of exhaustion.

Michael Brown’s face became contorted (and *that* alarmed Police Officer Darren Wilson). Michael Brown began to stumble in the direction of the police SUV, and his hands changed posture from palms forward ... to fists ... and then his left arm dropped (more steam lost), and his left hand snagged his waistband.

Police Officer Darren Wilson appeared to some witnesses, to back up a little, but this witness whom you cite says that Police Officer Darren Wilson side-stepped. The empty .40 cal casings on the lawn, support that.

At the moment of Michael Brown’s losing self-composure, at the tail-end of his turning around to face the direction from which he’d sort-of run, Michael Brown did not then apparently have the energy left to do, other than the arm and hand movements, anything more than an effort to get his feet under him -— his center of gravity was too far ahead of his feet, and he was, it seems, on his way down.

When, given everything that Police Officer Darren Wilson had been thru, one may theorize then, and there, was a split-second for Darren Wilson’s mind to determine: Is Michael Brown in control of his faculties or not? Darren Wilson might have taken a greater risk, by stepping further to the side, in order to see if Michael Brown was making a crash landing or actually headed for Darren Wilson?

It’s a timeframe too short and too late, when Police Officer Darren Wilson has a duty to -— after all that had transpired -— to both, stop Michael Brown and defend himself.

It would be rare and super-human, for an individual to be able to detect that at the last, Michael Brown’s momentum toward the ground, was not directed at Darren Wilson ... but at the ground.

It would be rare and super-human, for Police Officer Darren Wilson to be able to detect Michael Brown’s intention to stop *despite* Michael Brown’s loss of self-control.

How was Darren Wilson supposed to sense that Michael Brown had finally taken a decision to comply ... but actually could not because of draining “battery power?”

After the fact, yeah, Police Officer Darren Wilson could have stepped further to the side and “just let things happen.” Oh, look, Michael Brown just crash landed ... but, there was not, at the end of Michael Brown’s motions, enough to support Michael Brown’s intention to surrender -— his brief 1 to 2 seconds of arms up, palms out toward the SUV, had failed and devolved into another formation like fists preparing to crash to the ground, and then his left arm fell and its hand snagged his waistband.

In the residue of events at the police SUV, where Police Officer Darren Wilson certainly had reason to defend himself, and those events were fresh -— not a quarter mile away nor 10 minutes back in time -— the very last, tragic countenance, motions, and posture of Michael Brown, could not safely be determined to be a compelling act of surrender.

Police Officer Darren Wilson did his duty in accordance with his training.