A bystander or two, but nine bystanders? That’s pretty good shootin’ men.
Here’s my last post on the subject, and then you can go back to your perfect world. These officers fight crime, and the politics that come along with it, on a daily basis. The NYPD trains it officers to shoot to stop when you feel your life, or someone else’s life is in imminent danger. That’s why both of these officers, who had significant time on the job, had never been in a gun battle. The fact is, the overwhelming majority of officers never discharge their weapons in their career. Why is that? Density of population. I lost track of how many times I could have discharged my firearm to stop a perp and had it classified as a “good shooting”. I thank God every day that I didn’t, and still was able to apprehend that person. Taking a life is taking a life, no matter what the situation. These officers simply didn’t have that luxury. A man, identified as a shooter, was attempting to disappear into a crowded NYC street. As I originally stated, it wasn’t “textbook”, but believe me, in this situation, there is no “textbook”. You just thank God that only two lives were lost, the original victim and the perp, who it seemed, decided to go the “suicide by cops” route. I suggest that we all pray for the families of the victim, the perp, their families, and the officers involved. All of their lives have been changed forever. And believe me, it could have been a lot worse.