A jury convicted a Balch Springs, TX police officer of murder.
Officers were dispatched to a scene with a report of under aged drinking. When officers arrived, the scene was not threatening. Officers then heard shots fired and observed multiple people trying to leave the scene. One officer radioed in a license plate number as a car backed away from him and then tried to stop the car by breaking a rear window and ordering the driver to stop. Second officer saw the moving silhouette of passenger in the car and fired five shots, including one that hit the decedent in the head. Based on the linked article, it appears the defense presented two different theories:
1) the car itself was a threat to the officers' safety; and
2) the shooter reasonably determined the decedent was a threat
The two justifications do not appear to be consistent. The decedent was not the operator of the vehicle and the shooter stated he perceived the decedent to be a threat, suggesting he targeted the decedent (I'm summarizing the news report, not a transcript of testimony). If the shooter had perceived the car to be a threat, then he should not have been aiming at decedent who was not operating the vehicle. With respect to why he considered the decedent to be a threat, the shooter indicated he believed his partner had observed something because the partner had radioed in the license plate. The news report does not indicate the shooter saw any weapon or that he had any independent reason to believe the decedent was a threat other than that he was moving and that his partner radioed in the license plate and attempted to stop the vehicle. It's highly likely the news article omits some testimony.