Let’s take an alternate hypothetical...
What if the initial reports were different?”
All of the day 1 day 2 reports have colored our responses.
Let’s step back... and try a different story.
Local PD has an open broadcast on a strong arm robbery. A few short minutes later a local patrol officer encounters two young men walking in the street and directs them to get out of the road and use the sidewalk. As he starts to drive away, he realizes one fits the BOLO. He’s not 100% certain, and the call is not armed robbery or armed and dangerous, so he doesn’t call for immediate backup. He goes back to check young men, giving them some benefit of the doubt until he’s investigated further. The officer backs up and stops to question them, calling out to them to step over to the vehicle. One rushes his truck as he’s standing up. The officer is pinned between the door and the truck taking blows. He reacts by reaching through the open window with his right hand to engage the suspect. The suspect then reaches for the officer’s gun, and in the course of protecting his weapon a round is fired. The suspect reacts to the shot by stepping back and then decides to run. The injured officer pursues. The weapon is at this point already drawn and in the hand of the officer from his successful defense of that same weapon during the scuffle. The suspect is not in particularly good shape and knows he won’t make it far. He hears the call to halt close behind him, and he knows the officer is going to catch him. He then stops, turns, raises his hands, and starts to taunt the officer that he can’t shoot an unarmed man. The suspect then lowers his head and rushes the officer again. The officer fires multiple shots at the aggressively charging suspect, who is unfortunately mortally wounded.
Again, I’m not saying I know for a fact this is what happened, but some of the witness, friend, and family reports support this story just as easily as the “execution on his knees while pleading for his life“ story gleaned from other witness, friend, and family reports that have been published.
The story above sounds a lot like a righteous shoot.
The stories in the media narrative point to a rogue racist cop.
As in most cases, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but the more evidence that comes to light, the less this is looking like a cop with an itchy trigger finger and a taste for innocent blood.
This cop had 6 years — 2 in Jennings and 4 in Ferguson — all primarily black areas — without any incidents.
It will be very hard for anyone with a brain to paint him as racist.
Whether what he did was according to police protocol is another matter — failing to call for backup and wait for it will no doubt be part of it.