Thank you for some common sense...Some of the reporters were yelling questions that were pretty un PC there...yet they were ducked..If it was indeed just the one female deputy with the prisoner..hell..if she was careless enough to let him get that close that he could grab her gun..well..here's my theory....they mentioned that she had some severe facial damage..they thought from falling after being shot...BS....my take is he grabbed her..smashed her face into the wall or florr, THEN took her gun..
I don't think we're ever going to know what actually happened -- except that she broke procedure, leaving herself vulnerable to attack and consequently lost her weapon to Nichols.
Looks like you are likely correct. I just heard on the news that the authorities are now reconsidering what happened and they now furthered the same theory you did.