[Capt. Charlie]

And... whether or not he was actually in possession of a deadly weapon is a moot point. If you walk into a gas station and rob the place with your finger pointing in your pocket as if you had a gun, it's still considered aggravated (armed) robbery. In the "self defense" defense, you have to articulate a "reasonable fear for your life". Don't think there's any question he had that, and rightfully so. Case law is full of court decisions exhonorating both civilians and peace officers who used deadly force when an apparent weapon turned out to be something innocuous, like a toy gun.

Again, I don't think Monday morning quarterbacking is appropriate here. What we have is a fellow board member that is, and will be trying to deal with, the aftermath of a shooting. There are a few here that know what I'm talking about... and a whole bunch that don't have a clue. That wasn't meant to be a slam folks, just truth. In one case, I had to ORDER an officer into counseling that was involved in a justified shooting. He was completely in the right, but it damned near destroyed his life. He had nightmares, mood swings, missed work, started drinking heavily, domestics, and even later told me he had considered suicide. He was too macho to admit it was bothering him, but later thanked me for forcing him to get help. It is now dept. SOP that counseling is mandatory if one of ours uses deadly force. Now to those of you that haven't been there, but still want to pass judgement, please... shut the f*** up. In spite of all the macho posturing and strutting, and in spite of your "training", you have no idea what you'll actually do in the face of a deadly situation, or how you'll react afterwards. And when you do strut and posture, you're just showing those who have been there that you haven't.