Sorry if this was posted @
TC215, didn't see it. Modesto PD:
Seems a bit iffy at first glance, but when I put myself in the officer's position with the apparent information that he was primed with, I could easily see a reasonable officer doing the same thing. The elements are also strikingly similar to a scripted scenario that LEOs are put through (in particular, almost exactly the same as a FLETC scenario except a gun wasn't clearly visible).
1) Homicidal ideations on social media that was passed to the responding officer (and presumably known prior as well due to officer safety bulletin)
2) Violent ideations against a third party, suspect heading to that location. I'm unclear if he was in immediate vicinity of house, which would definitely support the compressed timeframe from announcement to first shot.
3) Dispatch told the officer that the man had a gun.
Under those circumstances, I'm fairly sure your "lizard brain" will make you see a gun, even if you didn't actually see when when reviewed on video footage. I think that Force Science Institute would be able to easily demonstrate the cognitive piece of this puzzle and how a reasonable officer of like training and knowledge would do the same thing. Probably won't go to court anyway since the decedent is a white guy, though.