Whether or not the gun was mistaken for a real one is not even the problem. The problem is the gunmnan decided that the boy “might” point the gun at him. By his reasoning anyone that has a gun on his person or something that might possibly be mistaken for some sort of gun is fair game and can be shot by a cop. With just a tiny stretch of that, anyone who is not naked, “might” have a gun on him which he “might” point at the bloodthirsty cop. Of course the current reality is that a police officer may shoot anyone he damn well please in any situation. The cop just has to remember to tell the next person on the scene, “I felt threatened,” and the shooting is prima facie justified. The cop then gets a well deserved extra paid vacation.
I feel sorry for the trainee cop. He saw it all and knows what happened. He’s probably under pressure to recount the events in a way that protects his partner, the shooter.
Don’t forget to, uh, make sure the digital recording device malfunctioned in some manner.