pulling a gun on police officers ? .. I guess he is a hot candidate for a darwin award..
still, I think it's better if people didn't have that easy access to deadly weapons even a little child could kill with, but that's just my opinion as a member of the "axis of weasels"

Uh huh.  Wonder if you would have thought it was the "right thing" if it was your head the guy had a gun pointed at.  Like I said, people like you have probably never been in a situation like this.  You sit on the sidelines and post commentary as if you might actually know what it's like.  If a man was shot pulling a wallet out it was probably because he did so without being instructed, and he probably did so in a threatening manner.  People don't get shot when they act in a calm, rational manner while following instructions given to them by the police.  People get shot when they act like morons.

Pulling a wallet out in a threatening manner... right...

Have you ever heard the saying "that it's better that 1000 guilty men go free than one innocent man be imprisoned"

The same concept applies here. If an innocent man is killed, there is a problem with the system. I like to think that I would still feel the same way, because I would rather die than live with the fact that I killed a man that shouldn't be killed. I don't believe I have the right to make that decision.

As I said, if Innocent people are at risk and there is no way to subdue him without risking the lives of those people, then I agree and he should be shot, but cops are not innocent people. They signed up knowing the risks and should be expected to take said risks. That is their job. I don't why to take the risks, thats why I went to college and got a job where I sit behind a desk.

I totally agree with everything CrashMan said. I don't know if in the Us that's the usual protocol, but here in Italy policemen can't shoot at people so lightly. That would be a huge scandal and those men would be in jail right now, probably for many years or even for life. There was a big scandal some years ago during G8 in Italy, because a policeman shot at a guy that was attacking his car, and he killed him. The policeman went to jail. So, I'm not judging or anything, but Europeans (or at least Italians) have a really different view about these things, but what's even more shocking for me, is people saying the guy deserved to die...

As a fire fighter myself, I'm getting the impression that you think I should value everyone else's life at a fire scene above my own.  Well that simply isn't how it works, and I'm pretty certain the same goes for cops and military.  My own life is always #1, followed closely by the lives of my fellow fire fighters and other emergency workers, then the lives of possible victims, then animal life(pets), and finally the property itself.

I do agree with you a bit on the mentality thing though, but that's more due to the training.  As far as I'm aware, they are instructed that if they need to shoot, then they should shoot to kill.  Of course I don't think it should ever take 47 shots either.

But I believe an officer's own life being their number one priority, so if they feel any life and especially their own is in immediate danger, then I see no wrong in them firing.

Whoa shooking news.

Hardcore confirmed?

They shoot center of mass.  They are not trained marksmans and shooting a pistol at 20 yards towards a moving leg is not easy.  They get basic target practice and firearm training, but not tactical marksman training.  If they shoot the guy in the leg, or arm, what is to say that they won't start shooting as soon as they get hit?  Shooting someone in the leg does not disable them.  They do not shoot to kill, they shoot for the center mass with the biggest target and the fastest way to bring him down, and immobilize him.  Cops are trained in hand-to-hand and disarmament but only for close quarters.  If they are too far away to close the gap, the only possibility is to shoot.

Your argument about them not knowing the situation means nothing.  The cop can't be expected to know every person, and their intentions.  The fact is, regardless of what the situation is, the police are doing the right thing to fire their weapons when a weapon is drawn on them.  Unfortunate events happen like with the foreign guy and his wallet, or if this person was unstable or mental, but that is not the job of the police to interpret and understand.  It's not all like the TV shows and movies.  If a guy has a pulled gun, the police will shoot.  It's the only reasonable reaction.  Now, if the guy was just running, the police would tackle him and disarm him, but since he had a gun AND it was visible, AND he failed to follow the police instructions, it was his fault.

You don't know the situation, so you think that police are wrong and that they have some bad reputation for being trigger happy.  I'm sorry, but it's just you succumbing to the media.  They will always portray events in the most scewed, sad, way possible.  It's how they get viewers.