If the crucifix was in his pocket and not visible what would you do? You have a call of a a man with a gun to begin with. He is failing to follow commands and the officers have no knowledge he has early stage dementia. All the fixings for a disaster.
And we all know that initial calls from frightened civilians are totally reliable, right? The same way we know that when it comes to a life-or-death decision, it’s always best to assume and act upon the most extreme, least likely possibility and rule out the numerous innocent ones. Besides, cops are trained that dementia never happens in the real world, so they will never encounter it — right?
Well, I sure wouldn’t empty a magazine into him, which is what the story seems to indicate! You think that sounds like a reasonable and restrained response?
I hope you’re not a cop, if you think this police response was appropriate!