I think the gun in its holster, hammer down on a 1911 style pistol speaks volumes about Scott’s intent. Not suicide. Not killing. Disarming. That the cops didn’t realize that means they were too prepped to shoot, or have too nervous a temperament to be street cops.
Why didn't he follow a single command, either to put his hands up or to get on the ground? Instead, he went for his gun. Mosher could have justifiably shot him at the point that he reached for his gun.
Seven times?
“Mosher could have justifiably shot him at the point that he reached for his gun.”
I disagree. When I was being prepped for a tour in Afghanistan with the Army (I was USAF), they talked about this. Darn near every Afghan has a gun. Sometimes they use them stupid, and sometimes they use them hostile, and sometimes they do both at the same time.
But just because someone reaches for a gun, you cannot shoot them. Not in Afghanistan, which is a war zone - how much more so at Costco in Nevada!
I’ve pointed out before, and still assert that a man reaches for a gun HOLSTER differently than he does to draw a gun on an armed opponent. The latter is done as quickly as possible. There are people who can draw and fire in under 0.5 sec. I’m not one. But that is the sort of speed you had better show to draw a weapon against someone who is covering you. If Mosher had time to give commands, Scott wasn’t trying to kill him.
Nor do his actions immediately prior agree with hostile intent. If he was trying to kill the cop, he would have been moving much faster.
Do I expect a cop to notice these things? Yes. If we hold our guys in Afghanistan responsible, then we sure can hold a cop in a Nevada Costco responsible!
Not everyone has the SA and skills to be a good cop. Not all cop shootings are good shootings. No, Mosher did not commit first degree murder. Manslaughter? Maybe, maybe not. Without any tape evidence, I suspect a criminal conviction is impossible.
But did he behave as a responsible cop? Does he have any business being returned to duty? If Arizona hired him, would I want him stopping me for speeding when I have a revolver in my waistband - with a holster very much like Mr Scott’s?
Hell no! I want to live.
I gave this example on another thread. The guy who taught my CCW class was in a grocery store after midnight. He saw a guy approach the cash register, then lift his shirt and pull a Colt 45 out of his waist. No holster, just gun. He ALMOST shot the guy, but something connected that the guy didn’t seem to be intending to shoot. As he covered the guy with his gun (unseen), the guy stuck the 45 back in his pants and retrieved his wallet. He was trying to pay when the instructor tackled him.
The guy was high as a kite. He didn’t know what he was doing. Scott knew, and he wasn’t pulling a gun to kill, but a holster to disarm. A good cop would catch that. If someone doesn’t notice the difference, then I don’t want him working as a cop where I live.
He was ALSO told to disarm.