[Powderman]

Wow. All the comments about "the cop caused that little girl's death".

No, folks.

It was the guy who made the choice to do an armed robbery of a McDonalds that caused the little girl's death.

So, a lot of you are jumping on the cop's actions. What exactly did he do?

He told his family to get the heck out of there. They tried, but were prevented from doing so by a LOCKED FIRE DOOR. (Isn't that against the fire code?)

Did anyone miss this next part:

I began quietly telling employees and patrons to leave. My thinking was to remove as many innocent bystanders as possible and then leave myself.

Probably not. Most of you are so busy going into the armchair quarterback mode that you didn't see this part.

So, now comes the bad guy. Here's the equation---Armed violent criminal, in the process of committing a felony, with lethal weapon visible, running toward people.

Here stands a sworn officer, also armed. He does not have time to think about it. He reacts in accordance to his training.

He draws his weapon and challenges the felon. THE FELON CHOSE AT THAT POINT TO OPEN FIRE IN A CROWDED ENVIRONMENT.

The officer responded, and he shot to stop. It took 11 rounds, yes--caliber doesn't count. He fired 11 rounds, hit the perp 10 times, UNDER FIRE.

Now, the big one...the little girl.

Everyone is mentioning how the little girl should not have died. I agree 100%. She should not have died.

Now here is the question. I think you all MISSED this part...

I immediately noticed a small child lying behind me.

Here's the important phrase..lying BEHIND him.

The child was BEHIND the officer.

Consider how close that bullet had to pass the officer to hit the child.

Also, it is a conditioned reflex for most cops to put themselves between the people they are trying to protect and the danger that threatens them. I believe that there is a possibility that the officer did EXACTLY that.

So, here is the officer who walks into an armed robbery; who initially tells his family to leave and has a stated intention to get others to safety; who finds himself in mortal danger, from a armed felon with a gun.

Who tries to resolve the situation by ID'ing himself as an officer, in the hope that the BG will surrender peacefully.

Instead, the officer finds himself under fire at close range. His life can now be measured in microseconds--he's on borrowed time for every breath he draws.

He responds to the immediate and lethal threat by shooting with remarkable accuracy under heavy stress--10 hits from 11 shots.

It is not his fault that the little girl was killed by the bullet of an armed felon.

He did his job. He stopped a lethal threat.

And some of you armchair quarterbacks are condeming this man? Trying to second guess his actions, even though by some of your own admissions YOU HAVE NEVER HAD TO DRAW YOUR WEAPONS TO DEFEND YOUR LIFE?

Some of you are saying that if confronted by the same situation that you would run. If you're not a cop, I guess that's OK.

But DON'T condemn this man who stood in the face of violent death and roared back. You don't have the right to do it. NONE of us do.