Murder? Or Self-Defense?

[SmashMouth]

1 minute ago, tvc184 said:

Hesitation depends on the circumstances. Is someone is coming at you with a knife and getting close? Sure, that was a fairly easy decision.

I have been faced with life and death decisions with a gun in my hand many times. Some of those times I could have lawfully (in my opinion) killed a person. I hesitated several times and although I am fairly certain I would have been cleared, I’m glad that I did not kill someone. I have also pulled the trigger on someone.

Sometimes it was a clear choice but most of the times it is not. The only time I have pulled a trigger pointing at someone, about one second before I pulled the trigger I did not know I was going to shoot. 

That fits my answer exactly. I’m definitely going to err on the side of not killing another human. I’m sure that would change my life no matter the circumstances.

[tvc184]

1 minute ago, SmashMouth said:

That fits my answer exactly. I’m definitely going to err on the side of not killing another human. I’m sure that would change my life no matter the circumstances.

My partner one time shot and killed a guy by 10 feet in front of me. The guy had a knife and was coming toward us but stopped. He looked at me and I spoke to him and then he turned toward my partner who shot him. There were a couple of other officers on scene and anyone of us could’ve shot at any time prior to that and it would have been lawful. The hesitation is real and the officer that  pulled  the trigger made absolutely the correct decision. It is not even debatable in my opinion. 

I sometimes think back about that situation and wish I would have shot earlier and I’m so glad that I did not. I am happy with the outcome and torn by the decision not to shoot earlier.

I am the one that took the officer, who was forced to take a life, to the police station to begin the investigation. I remained composed and professional like my experience and training had taught.  I can’t tell you that I didn’t have tears in my eyes though.

Everyone handles it differently but it can be life altering and certainly does something to you one way or the other.