A) The victim was apparently a jerk. From reading many comments to this story over a wide range of sites, a lot of people seem to be experiencing at least a tiny bit of schadenfreude, probably over all the jerks they have encountered in their own lives.
B) I don’t believe asking a jerk to stop their jerky ways in public makes one an “aggressor” in a situation.
C) A and B notwithstanding, if the reports are accurate, I believe the old cop is guilty of 2nd degree murder. While unpleasant to have a jerk in your face, possibly throwing non-injurious things at you, it is not grounds for responding with deadly force. If he really did go out and get his gun, of which there is no evidence yet, that would make it 1st degree murder.
The old guy succumbed to ego and bad judgement, and should be an abject warning to all of us that CCW and OC.
“A) The victim was apparently a jerk.”
If the guy is a jerk and you are carrying a firearm, just walk away, or change seats, etc. Dont escalate the situation. I’ll bet gramps is wishing he had done that instead of doing something so stupid. He is likely going to jail for a long time and we know how much they like cops in prison. At the least he is looking a enormous legal fees and a wrongful death lawsuit.
“While unpleasant to have a jerk in your face, possibly throwing non-injurious things at you, it is not grounds for responding with deadly force. “
Maybe. It depends upon what else was going on and what the jerk was doing/saying. The ex-Captain is still probably going down, but the devil is in the details.