Police Shootings

I saw a story on the news yesterday about a family burying their little girl who was killed in a police standoff in LA the other day.

Here's the link to the story.


The father was wrong to:
1) Shoot at cops (especially ones in LA)
2) Use your baby as a human shield

The cops were wrong to:
1) Not find an alternative way to resolve the situation

Is it necessary to fire off 90 rounds against one guy (especially when he's holding a baby)? I wouldn't think so, but I'm no cop. Could the SWAT team and cops been more patient, let the guys alcohol and coke buzz wear off? Maybe.

I'm just trying to figure out how cops decide in which cases the use of deadly force is OK. If the guy was alone shooting at cops, then yeah. But when a small child is involved, then I would hope that it wouldn't be the same (but in LA, I guess so).

Would the police handled the situation differently if the mayor was shooting at cops and holding his/her kid next to them? Maybe. I wonder if cops decide to respond to a situation based on who is involved.

Here's a bit of text from the article:
The death of a child in a police shooting is extremely rare. Bratton said the fatal shooting was only the second time a hostage had been killed since the department formed its SWAT team in 1967. In that time, SWAT officers have responded to 3,800 calls involving hostages or people barricaded inside buildings.

That's a pretty good record, but why did this case have to have a different ending.

In the end, it's the poor mother who has lost her child. What can she do now?