Moonman, usually the bird is either in the hangar or not close, I think it happened to be close by luck.
The dispatch tapes are going to be interesting, because something had all the other cars going lights and sirens as if it were an officer in need of aid. If she called out with a man resisting arrest or detention, this would explain their haste. I suspect that was this deal.
I have been in similar situations and without knowing what was said between the decedent and the officer, who was actually on her way to a different call, we can’t really know what they heck was going on.
However, in my twenty plus years of experience, she said something this guy did not like and he was leaving. The vehicle parked in the middle of the road is suspicious, he is suspicious and should have been detained. I say the officer was not assertive enough and this turned into an opportunity for tragic misunderstanding/misinterpretation.
Or a split second that we cannot see where he goes into his waist band. Lots of guys been shot over that move and they know it will get them shot but do it anyway.
I can’t see where this guys hands wind up, but something made the female officer fire. It will be contingent on her to provide the reasonable, articulable belief that necessitated her action.
I personally would not have let him get back to that truck.
I will wait for the investigation. In the vast majority of these cases the police officers have been exonerated in court. Sometimes, they’ve even been exonerated by Obama’s Justice department.