Replies

Although I don't know anyone in the police department at "VCU university", I can assure you that a police officer there would tell you the same thing that a police officer at Harvard, Cambridge, or the Sorbonne would. And that would be what every police officer in the world would:

If you are in a dangerous situation that you can walk away from, then walk away from that dangerous situation as soon as you can.

The deceased wasn't in a dangerous situation when he pulled out the can of pepper spray; he was in an argument. And he was in an argument that he stepped away from and then came back to with the can of pepper spray in his hand.

Approaching someone with a can of pepper spray is a provocation, something anybody with an IQ over room temperature understands. (Did he deserve to be senselessly killed for it? Of course not.)

Let me enlighten you.

Virginia Commonwealth University - Pepper Spray

DO carry pepper spray on your person

Pepper spray is effective, but only if you have it with you! Whether you are walking alone at night, jogging around the neighborhood, or going to and from your car in a parking lot, you always want to have your pepper spray in your hand and ready to use. As always, it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I hope this has clarified what i mean when I say that if you are in a situation that could become dangerous, you need to have your pepper spray in your hand.

Realizing we don't have a video of the entire event, I believe your description is wrong. The man with the pepper spray walked away from the altercation, but right into an armed man looking to kill someone, who tried to grab his pepper spray.