[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by Wyosmith

The problem is the System of "education" The symptom is (among many others) that cops think they are "the boss". Same with Judges and politicians....

This has nothing to do with the issue.

The bottom line is this:

1. As the OP wrote:

   Two cops observe what they think is a man with a gun in his hand.I don't know details,...

2. But of course the details are vital. Exactly what was going on?
   
   
3. Was the guy with the gun in his hand doing something that could reasonably be interpreted as an imminent lethal threat to one of the cops or a third party? If he was, even if he didn't actually have the intent to hurt anyone, how could anyone tell? We can't read minds and can only infer intent from actions.
   
   
4. Under those circumstances a cop has something like 0.25 to 0.50 second to decide if the guy is a real threat. If the cop takes more time to decide, he'll probably be too far behind the curve to be able to take effective defensive action.
   
   
5. Of course if what the guy was doing could not reasonably interpreted as a threat, the cops overreacted. But we have insufficient information on that point.
   
   
6. In general these sorts of situations unfold very quickly -- whether you're a cop or an armed private citizen.