Wilson was alone, with no partner. Brown was unarmed. When Brown struggled for Wilson's gun and it went off after blowing thru Brown's hand, Brown fled. Wilson was alone, with no backup at a shooting scene. Why did Wilson continue to pursue Brown? I mean Brown would have shown up somewhere seeking medical treatment? Suspects can't outrun a radio or a camera or medical care for a gunshot wound.
Firing additional shots at Brown out in the open street means rounds going lord knows where? And the safest course of action for the officer, suspect, and public, would be to let Brown have an egress from the scene, knowing he'd surface soon enough in a situation more easy to control with the appropriate resources.
What was that according to the facts, 80 or 90 seconds?
Fighting inside of a cop car, guns, bullets flying, and blood, do we really need to worry why Wilson completed the mission?
All of this was against a man who was fleeing the scene of a strong arm robbery and who was confronted by a cop, do we really need to waste much time on Wilson’s 90 seconds of taking down the guy once it is established that he did no wrong?
“Why did Wilson continue to pursue Brown?”
That’s where Wilson screwed up. I said this on another thread. Once Wilson was assaulted, the line was grayed between Wilson as a cop and Wilson as a victim. Wilson should have stayed in the squad car and waited for backup.
We’ve all heard “never discipline a child when your angry”. That truism applies here as well...
Brown should have been dealt with by other officers who were not involved in the way Wilson was. Had reason prevailed, everybody would be better off. Innocent citizens wouldn’t have died, the city wouldn’t have been torched, Wilson life wouldn’t have been turned upside down, and Brown would be looking a 10 year (or more) stint in prison.
However the culture in the police forces will not allow this.
Setting that aside for a moment, his department policy said he needed to engage at that time.
I think it's a sound policy. Cops do not have the benefit of hindsight. It's not a question of whether they would have found him at some point...no doubt they would...it's a question of whether the trail would have been marked by bodies.
I'm amazed this has to be explained, much less repeated...the perp's actions were not rational in any sense of the word. Have you, or anyone you know, EVER slammed the door on a cop trying to get out of his car, much less reach into the window and try to take his gun away? How far is that from your own experience?
It's not just a question of whether Brown could have been taken alive AT SOME POINT...it's not a question of whether his life was being put in danger. Lives (plural) were in danger.
He was a danger to anyone he came in contact with. Wilson was, IMO, professional in every sense of the word.