I am sorry she was/is an idiot.
She was speeding on a winding mountain road.
She was uncooperative and irrational with police and fled twice.
Her son got out and became combative with LEO.
Size and age of at least two of the children- 14, 18 made them seem to be adults. LEO likely thought there was at least 3 adults in the car.
There were drugs and drug paraphernalia in the car.
There was a toy gun in the car.
I think this woman was totally out of control and so was her son. LEO probably could have handled it differently, but we really have no idea what they knew or didn’t know. LEO is claiming she had priors, which must have come up on their computer- I think her lawyer disputes that she had previous charges of driving under influence. Some of this is he said/she said stuff but LEO said they saw a gun in the car, there was a toy gun found in the car.
Driving like she was on a mountain road, she was putting her family and everyone else on the road in danger. Acting like an ass with LEO is never a good idea. She is the one that escalated the situation whether the officer that fired was right or wrong.
None of which is justification to start shooting at a van full of kids.
“I shot at them because their mother was putting them in danger” said the cop.