Originally Posted by
Dythbringer
Apparently some of the US commentators aren't believing the officer didn't use deadly force. Michael Lyman (professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Columbia College of Missour) stated "Assuming the suspect is holding a gun and pointing it toward officers, it is concerning that the officer is not engaging the suspect with deadly force,". The problem with this type of thinking is that the commentators are assuming the suspect is holding a gun. I will give what the officer the benefit of the doubt that he did the correct actions because I wasn't there. I didn't see what the officer saw. It is a very real possibility that the officer observed what the suspect had in his hand and made the determination (based on the shape of the object or even the body language of the suspect) that this was a situation where the suspect wanted to die by the police's actions. The first course of action by a police officer to any situation doesn't always have to end up with a dead suspect like a lot of US commentators are suggesting.