Woman streams aftermath of fatal officer-involved shooting

[s_stabeler]

actually, surprisingly, it's irrelevant. While the stop may or may not have been racial profiling, the question is if the cop had reason to believe he was going to be shot. I believe the cop had a -barely- reasonable belief he was going to get shot ( there have been cases before where almost the exact same thing happened, but instead of getting their license and insurance out, they got a gun out. including co-operating up to that point. I'll admit I can't prove it, however.(I'm going by things I have read. At a minimum, the cop likely had heard similar tales- which may make a belief he was about to get shot more reasonable)

Ultimately, I think the most important part is that the cop was clearly tense when he took the shot. As such, it's my personal belief that the cop genuinely believed he was going to get shot. Basically, he needs more training on how to deal with the situation. It's not exactly a case of the victim getting shot just because he was black.

[Gravekeeper]

actually, surprisingly, it's irrelevant. While the stop may or may not have been racial profiling, the question is if the cop had reason to believe he was going to be shot.

But if it is racial profiling then how can you say the cop's nervousness wasn't because of or being amplified by said profiling?

As such, it's my personal belief that the cop genuinely believed he was going to get shot. Basically, he needs more training on how to deal with the situation. It's not exactly a case of the victim getting shot just because he was black.

The cop's belief really isn't the problem here. Its how the cop arrived at that belief. If he gave conflicting instructions that led to the scenario that caused him to make a mistake and shoot the guy he should be charged. If he let his own emotions and/or prejudice cloud his judgement and shot the guy he should be charged. If he made procedural mistakes that led to the scenario where he shot the guy he should be charged.

Since the scanner reveals that he pulled them over as robbery suspects almost makes this worse rather than better. If he thought they were robbery suspects, the victim informed him he was armed and he was on as much edge as he seems to be; Then he should have ordered them to keep their hands on the dash/steering wheel until he had control of the situation ( either with a partner's help or while waiting for back up ). So they could be safely disarmed.

Especially given that there was a child in the vehicle.

This guy isn't a rookie cop. This was bad judgement not poor training. And you shouldn't get to just walk away with a pink slip if you make a bad judgement call and kill someone.

[wolfie]

If the cop had stabilized the situation (everyone keeping their hands where he could see them) until backup arrived, the worst-case outcome of this (pulling over someone who was not the robbery suspect being searched for) would have had him being the butt of jokes around the station for a few months. It would likely have wound up as a "teachable moment", in that he dealt with a dangerous situation in a manner that resulted in no harm done (delay while things get sorted out doesn't count as harm) in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

As it stands, he's likely to end upon the chopping block, if only to take some of the heat off the "brass" in the department. A man is dead, and relations between the police and certain elements of the community are extremely strained.

[Ghel]

As it stands, he's likely to end upon the chopping block...

Unlikely. Most officers who shoot an kill unarmed people of color (or people with handicaps, for that matter) never lose their jobs and are never charged with their crime. The few cases we see in the news of officers serving jail time for murder or sexual assault are the rare exceptions.