The cops had every right to shoot Johnson as soon as he turned his gun toward them.
The issue appears to be poor judgement akin WACO. Instead of following him and amassing overwhelming numbers, they chose to confront him on a crowed street. Their poor judgement and lack of situational awareness resulted in 9 innocent folks being shot.
You people are unbelievable! 9:OO AM on a Friday morning on one of the busiest streets in the world. Someone informs you that they just saw a man shoot someone around the corner. You approach, hesitantly, and the man turns on you with a gun. You’re initial reaction is to take cover and shoot to stop, but you don’t have time to take cover. You discharge 9 shots, your partner, 7, in about 1.2 seconds. You kill a murderer and bystanders are injured by ricochets off massive concrete planters that are there to prevent terrorist from driving truckloads of explosives into the entrance of the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.
This is not the movies. Any of you ever been in that situation? I didn’t think so. As a retired member of the FINEST Police Department in the world, the NYPD, I’d like to inform you that the overwhelming majority of you would crap your pants in that situation. These officers, normally assigned to the 42nd Precinct in the South Bronx, have seen more and dealt with more than the average American would see if they lived 10 lifetimes. Did it go perfectly? No shootout is a textbook situation, but check the score; dead perp, no dead officers, no one seriously injured, in a possibly disastrous incident, in front of an entrance that sees over 10,000 people pass it every hour. Sit back in your comfy chair and dream that you could do a better job.
Nope. The last thing they needed was more cops on the scene spraying bullets on a crowded street. The should have closed on him with weapons drawn and the instant he turned and showed a gun, dropped him at point blank range.