Tragic Police Shooting at Las Vegas Costco

What a tragedy. I have the most unfortunate experience of being TOLD by an individual that he was armed, and that he WAS going to shoot me. I was pointing a handgun at him, and it was loaded and my finger was on the trigger. I was in the open with NO place to take cover and there was about three meters between him and I. He was facing me and moving toward me at a walk pace and the odds of me striking his thoracic cavity was HIGH. I could see my heartbeat in my vision and hear it in my ears as I watched him in slow motion reach into his back pocket with his right hand. Everything in me was telling me to preserve myself and shoot him twice in the chest and put him on the ground. It was all I could do to just wait until I could get a good look at what he was pulling out of his back pocket. I was in the process of putting pressure on the trigger when he pulled a BEER CAN out of his pocket. I wanted to beat the asshole after that...not shoot him!

I'm not saying that the LEOs were right. I'm just saying that having been through what I've been through, I'm not so sure I would have reacted any different.

This reminds me of a shooting in Baton Rouge decades ago on halloween. Two kids in costumes, one a Japanese exchange student, were going to a party and went to the wrong house. They knocked on the door and the wife answered, slammed the door, and told her husband: "get your gun". The man went to the door and shot the Japanese kid, who was dressed as John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

I always wondered why that woman told her husband to get his gun.

One point. It was two weeks before Halloween. So you have a guy, dressed urban, claiming he's there to party.

I am just curious and mean no offense, but why did you wait to see what he had in his hand? You weren’t required to..

I respect your decision nonetheless.

I am just curious and mean no offense, but why did you wait to see what he had in his hand? You weren’t required to..

I respect your decision nonetheless.

He was very, very drunk, and to shoot him would have certainly been within the confines of the law in this case, but in my mind would have been murder. I was patient, and it all worked out...this time. :-)

Patience would solve many of the problems in law enforcement, but there's doors to be kicked in before Miller Time! Your judgement is commendable.

Hey Slim! Long time no speak buddy. :-) I'm really NOT very patient. It was very stressful waiting to see what came out of that pocket out of the corner of my eye while keeping the weapon at center mass on the idiot. One part of my brain was telling my hand to pull the trigger, and the other part was telling me to just give it another couple of seconds. I think I got EXTRA gray hair that day! :-) Happy Friday buddy. :-)

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