What grounds did they have to stop him?
Driving a car on a public highway while high on pcp is illegal. Ignoring the commands of three police officers who have guns pointed at you is also illegal.
I'll grant you the first but will dispute the second. Regardless, shooting people is supposed to be illegal as well unless it's done in self defense or to protect the life or safety of bystanders. Unless you are the police evidently.
Are you serious? At the very least, they had reasonable suspicion that he had been operating a vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance. But, they also had failure to obey lawful commands of a police officer.
You're not allowed to ignore reasonable request from a police office who is attempting to do their job.
Ignoring their repeated demands that he STOP, continuing toward his car gave the police ample reason to believe the guy was unstable and unpredictable. In such a case, letting him open the door was a direct, potentially lethal threat to the officers. If he reached for that door (and, it appears to me that he did)... they were justified in shooting him. Especially if, they had already tazed him without affect.
NO WAY they could allow him to open that door.
It's a damn shamed this incident progressed to where it did. He should have been tazed and/or tackled before getting anywhere close to his truck. But, that's easy to say.. sitting here on my comfy couch.
The failure of our news media to report FACTS about this, and other similar cases is a real danger to our society. See Charlotte last night. They're propagating a lie that police are running around just looking for people to kill. I heard Joe Scarborough saying, "this guy was doing EVERYTHING he needed to do to not be shot".
Um... no, he was not. He was doing exactly the things that WILL get anyone shot. You, me, anyone.... doing what he did would have a very good chance of getting shot.