Can we agree that picking up the AR-15 after already dropping the bad guy was a REALLY FOOLISH mistake.
Brave...but dumb.
Brave...but dumb.
It seems to have happened very quickly.
After shooting the active shooter, Bill Troyanos, Hurley had an excellent reason to make sure Troyanos could no longer access the AR-15. He probably picked it up just moments before being shot.
It is easy to make complex decisions in the hours after an event.
The person in the event is making the decision in seconds.
Yes, he should not have been holding it when the other cops arrived.
When I was teaching CCW classes, we talked about the danger of being percieved as the threat when the police arrive.
As others have noted, there have been a few other mistaken identity shooting by police over the years.