I have zero doubt she thought she had her taser when she fired, and I also think its easier than folks seem to think it is.
This is not the first time someone has been shot by a cop who thought they were firing a taser, and it sadly won’t be the last.
People are human... even people with huge experience make mistakes... (skydivers jumping out of planes forgetting to put their chutes on, etc.)
The idea that just because you have decades of experience means you won’t or can’t make a simple mistake is foolish. Anyone who’s experienced at something for decades can easily tell you of a time they have made a dumb mistake. Yes experience folks are less likely to make a simple mistake than an inexperienced person, but there is nobody who can say they haven’t committed a stupid mistake that they should not have when they were experienced.
Fortunately, most people who make mistakes, don’t put lives at risk. Unfortunately some people have jobs where a mistake can. indeed cost people lives. In controlled environments you can add processes and double checks to help prevent this... but in a situation where it is a single person responsible and not in a situation where others can input or validate, the action is purely on that person, and being a person... mistakes sadly will happen.
I feel for this woman, I feel for the dead man’s family.... She made a mistake that cost someone their life. The mans friends and family have lost someone needlessly.
Regardless of what happens in the judicial system with this.
It is tragic this man was killed, that doesn’t take away his actions escalated the situation and contributed to escalating the situation that lead to the mistake. However, that doesn’t mean he deserved to die for it.
This culture of non compliance being encouraged by certain segments of the population ensure that more incidents like this will happen, sadly.
This isn’t the first time that this has happened.
Julia Crews (female officer in St. Louis) and Brindley Blood (female officer in Lawrence Kansas) both did the same thing.
It happened in Pennsylvania as well:
There was another incident in Oklahoma.
Taser should probably revise the tasers that they sale to the yellow version that they sale. Discontinue the black tasers. Still not foolproof, but I think it would serve as a visual reminder to the officers that they were holding the yellow taser vs the black firearm.