Often the “pellet rifle” is a nearly exact replica in terms of visual appearance.
If the bright, day-glo muzzle attachment was removed, there would be no visual cue to rapidly determine whether the gun was real or a toy.
Given the militarization of American police forces, the savagery of the Urban Feral predators, etc. why that gun was not cased is a valid question.
So long as the militarized cops feel justified in anything they do and any person they shoot, such tragedies will continue to occur.
Militarization of police has consequences.
And will increase in frequency and egregiousness. This is the beginning of The Terror, not the antipopulation warfare of our enemies but classical State sponsored Terror directed by the State against its own population to keep the people numb and off balance, unable to create an opposition because no one trusts anyone else at all or even dares to think. The Federal Government is not engaged directly in The Terror but is sponsoring local police forces to warm it up. The Feds will get into it later with some sort of FEMA secret police.