But Ramos wasn't the only, OR the first, to shoot at him. Compean shot first, 14 times, and never hit him. If getting HIT is what stopped him from firing, he would have fired at Compean. IF getting shot at made him give up and run again, he wouldn't have turned around AGAIN to "point at" Ramos.
And if he wasn't going to shoot, why would he pull the gun at all? Never point a gun if you aren't ready to use it.
You don't have to be bright to know that if you point a handgun at an officer, they aren't going to put down their weapons and run away, they are going to SHOOT you.
And everybody knows that if a drug smuggler points a gun, they are going to shoot. After all, if perps regularly pointed guns at cops without shooting, then the BP agents would have no justification for shooting the guy for simply pointing a weapon at him.
Not necessarily. It's not a law of physics that you have to shoot back when you are being shot at.
IF getting shot at made him give up and run again, he wouldn't have turned around AGAIN to "point at" Ramos.
According to Ramos and the Doctor that extracted the bullet, Aldrete didn't stop and turn around. His body was bladed which occurs when a person tries to run and shoot at something behind them.
And if he wasn't going to shoot, why would he pull the gun at all? Never point a gun if you aren't ready to use it.
He probably was going to shoot and chose not to for reasons only known to Aldrete.
You don't have to be bright to know that if you point a handgun at an officer, they aren't going to put down their weapons and run away, they are going to SHOOT you.
These people point guns at law enforcement all the time and don't shoot. It has happend to me. It happens all the time on the border. They even come after armed agents with rocks and pointy sticks. Ramos' story is entirely plausible.
And everybody knows that if a drug smuggler points a gun, they are going to shoot.
There all kinds of reasons why a smuggler might not shoot. Campeanos stated that he saw a gun. All he needed was to see the gun, he didn't have to wait until Aldrete started shooting at him. I imagine that getting shot at changed Aldrete's mind about shooting at Campeanos.
After all, if perps regularly pointed guns at cops without shooting,
It happens all the time.
then the BP agents would have no justification for shooting the guy for simply pointing a weapon at him.
All these situations are not the same. The main ingredient here is fear of one's life or that of another. In the Ramos/Campeanos case the events happened very quickly. They had split seconds to make a decision, shoot or don't shoot. They percieved a threat and feared for their safety and took action before Aldrete could fire. It's rediculous to expect Ramos and Campeanos to wait to be shot at first before they return fire. In my case I chased a smuggler back across the border. They were in a Suburban and they were about 100 yards away. The passenger leaned out of the window and pointed a gun at me. Since they were so far away and in a moving vehicle, I didn't feel they could hit me even if they shot first. In addition I had plenty of time to get cover, arm myself with a scoped M4 and prepare for an attack. Even though I could have justified shooting the passenger I didn't do it because I wasn't in fear of my life. I also had plenty of time to react which is something that Ramos and Campeanos did not have.