The Annoyed Man wrote:Why/How did this degenerate into a situation where his drawn gun was used as a club instead of a gun, and the perp didn't get shot?
Upon reading the article, it seems clear that the officer let the perp get inside his space before reacting. The BG "lunged" at him, but if the LEO had maintained a safe distance, this wouldn't have happened.
Easy to armchair quarterback, but all the same I'm betting that the officer is having exactly the same thoughts this morning.
I don't see anything to quarterback, just another day on the streets and thankfully an officer that was able to win the fight. I am surprised it even made the news as this happens and rarely does. This is a typical call where an officer is probably the 1st to arrive and encountered the suspect without back up. He is probably ordering the guy to prone out at gun point as the call indicates the guy was allegedly on the way to kill the victim. He would then either hold him at gun point for cover or move in and handcuff the guy while alone. When you move in you are in the suspects personal space. It is ideal to wait for back up, but depending where you are and the back up response time you often have to do it by yourself.
On the streets suspects do not always comply when you point a gun at them and when they go sideways you cannot just shoot them w/o further justification. I still recall the first time I was charged by a guy who I had at gun point. I also hit him with my glock as he head butted me at full speed and I didn't have time to holster and go for my baton. If you have ever seen any of the tapes, you can see how fast a person can close 21 or 30 feet.
