The kid clearly tells the Deputy, he "means you know harm", he tells him he's on the Deputy's side and is military. The Deputy clearly tell the kid to "get up" twice. The kid responds twice he is getting up. Then the Deputy shoots him.
For a fact, althought there are some unbelievers out and about, most cops will call them like they see them. When they are involved and the liability is heavy they are not going to say much of anything about an incident. They have that crammed into them in the academy and by police lawyers all thru their careers. Use the 5th Amendment and Miranda as the more you say the more something will come back to haunt you, even if you haven't done anything wrong.
But this video is pretty damning and I'd say this Deputy had way too much adrenalin pumping and wasn't thinking. Still I'd want to know the whole story and interview everyone involved before a final call is made. Afterall, all of the details have to come out, no matter if the Deputy bites it on this shooting. Such a shame for everyone involved.
The only good outcome from this is that the deputy was not a good shot and the airman survived.
But this kind of tape is really bad for the image of law enforcement... And I say that as someone who usually argues ~for~ the cop in questionable cases.
police everywhere are different I guess. I was stopped for speeding once, with use of a laser speed gun. I have a radar detector (that did not go off), and I actually asked the officer how he determined my speed. at night, he asked me to hop out of my car, walk over to his car (with his back to me mind you as I was following him), where he showed me (with pride) the laser reading he had taken on me. so what's the deal with that? why does a stop in this case turn into a shooting, while on the other hand, I had an officer proudly showing me how his laser speed gun works.
I appreciate hearing from a retired cop my own thoughts: there is more to find out, but it looks very bad for the deputy at this time.
Most police officers are decent people doing a difficult and often nasty job under very trying conditions where they never know all the facts. I respect that, but they do not AFAIK issue halos with the badge. A few power trippers slip through the cracks and there are a few cops I would prefer not to be in society at all much less in a position of authority and responsibility. Each case is different, and must be treated according to the facts, not with a blanket let the officer do his job or a catchall execute the cop.