They can come at you real fast, especially if your weapon is in your holster. The article says he jumped out of the bushes and repeatedly charged the officer. I am wondering how many times does he have to charge, before action is taken? No matter how you look at it, the whole situation is tragic. I think domestic disturbances, are the situations officers dread responding to most.
I don't disagree at all Mark17. It just seems that a trained, experienced police officer should be able to apprehend an inebriated 16 yo without killing him, imo. Maybe he did try to do that. I'm not a cop basher at all but it seems this kind of thing happens frequently. Could he have withdrawn and observed the kid from a distance? You can't tell from the article. It's just disappointing, that's all.