If the kid had put his hands out or up....wouldn't he have lost balance on the bike?
I don't know about losing balance, because he had his feet down, but this cop came out ready to shoot. Why? Because the guy accelerated too quickly. I wonder if he even topped the speed limit. I do that a lot too. I don't *****foot it up to 40, sometimes I just floor it, it gives the appearance from a stopped car behind me that I'm flying, but I never go past the posted speed limit. My point here is that if the cop ran out of his car with his gun drawn (approaching a guy who pulled over, not the guy who lost control of his bike or was trying to flee, forget his friend, he has nothing to do with this) then if the bike rider threw his arms up, he still would have probably been shot. It looks like this guy had an itchy finger and didn't like how fast they pulled away. There is a country road right by my house that has 50MPH as the posted limit.
Thanks for the nep rep Samot. Good times! Listen, all I was trying to convey was this. The two kids were behaving recklessly. They put themselves into that situation, and he is unfortunately now reaping the consequences of his actions. He chose to behave like a jackass at night, and when pulled over did not comply with the officer's orders. Keep in mind that his friend was EVADING. That would cause big questions in my mind right then and there---why did his friend run? Why isn't he putting his hands up? Why is his right hand moving at his waist line? Review it closely. If it appears clear that he is making a movement from straight behind that could be construed as drawing a firearm, then how would it look from the side? It doesn't matter if he could get off an "accurate shot". Keep in mind that there was an officer in front of him as well. I will concede that perhaps the officer was a bit quick on the trigger, but he reacted as I would expect any officer to when confronted with the situation. I understand my stance is not popular on this issue, but I stand by it.
Huh...so if you behave like a jackass (accelerate quickly) and don't put your hands up as soon as you get pulled over, you get shot. If that's really the law of the land, perhaps it really is time I move to Canada, as a few INGO members have recently suggested I do. I think putting your hands up immediately looks criminal, because you know you just did something wrong. I probably would have done exactly what this guy did, become stunned that a cop was running out of his car, screaming at me with his gun pointed at me, while my friend's bike was riding circles all over the place. Consider that situation for a moment. How often does that happen to you on a nightly basis?
Both times I've been pulled over a cop approached my car from the left AND right. I know this isn't the case in this video, but perhaps he was checking for a second officer who wasn't there. But, maybes don't matter much to me, because that's all they ever are, maybe.
For everyone who is having a hard time deciding if it was a justified shoot, consider this. The guy pulled over in a timely manner, didn't get off his bike, didn't act excited, and DIDN'T HAVE A GUN. I don't know what's going on around here with all the speculation, but it doesn't matter what he was doing with his right hand, because he didn't have a gun. Did he have bullets with him? Yes...well...after the cop put one in his back.
Hindsight, of course, is 20/20 and it's a lot easier for me to say, after the fact, that he didn't have a gun. Did the officer know that? No. Did he handle the situation in a professional way? No. Was it a justified shoot? In the end, no, there was no gun. Plain and simple, you can't just go around shooting people who don't put their hands up.